What Are The Public Holidays in Uruguay in 2026?

List of Public Holidays in Uruguay (2026)

Uruguay’s public holidays combine fixed national dates with several “movable” holidays that may be shifted to a Monday for observance. Use this 2026 list to plan staffing, leave approvals, and payroll for your Uruguay-based team.

Do Employers Have to Provide Paid Leave on Public Holidays?

Yes, under Uruguayan labour law, employees are generally entitled to a paid day off on national public holidays that fall on a normal working day. If a holiday falls on a day the employee would not usually work, there is typically no additional paid day off unless a collective bargaining agreement or company policy grants more favourable terms.

Uruguay does not have regional public holidays for employment law purposes – the holidays listed above apply nationwide. Some holidays are “movable” and may be legally shifted to the nearest Monday for observance, especially for private-sector workers, so you should track both the calendar date and the officially observed date when scheduling work and processing payroll.

When employees are required to work on a public holiday, they are usually entitled to their normal daily wage plus a premium (often 100% extra, effectively double pay) or a compensatory rest day, depending on the applicable collective agreement and sectoral rules. Part-time employees receive holiday pay on a pro-rata basis according to their contracted hours and pay structure.

Legal Penalties for Not Providing Paid Holiday Leave

Failure to respect public holiday rights in Uruguay can trigger inspections and sanctions from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad Social, MTSS) and the Social Security Bank (Banco de Previsión Social, BPS). Authorities can impose administrative fines for underpayment of wages, non-payment of holiday premiums, or failure to record and report working hours correctly.

Common employer mistakes include treating mandatory holidays as normal working days without premium pay, misclassifying employees as independent contractors to avoid holiday obligations, and ignoring sector-specific collective bargaining agreements that improve on statutory minimums. In disputes, employees can claim back pay, interest, and adjustments to social security contributions, and repeated non-compliance can increase fine levels and the risk of litigation.

How Do Holidays Affect Overtime Thresholds?

Public holidays in Uruguay interact with overtime rules by changing how hours are valued rather than the basic weekly threshold itself. Standard daily and weekly limits still apply, but hours worked on a public holiday are typically paid at a higher statutory or collectively agreed premium rate, which may be higher than the usual overtime rate for ordinary days.

In practice, this means that if an employee works on a public holiday, you need to distinguish between: hours that replace their normal working schedule on that day, which may be paid at a holiday premium; and any additional hours beyond their usual schedule, which may attract both the holiday premium and an overtime uplift, depending on the applicable collective agreement. Because sectoral rules can differ, the safest approach is to confirm the correct multipliers with your local payroll provider or legal counsel and to document them clearly in employment contracts and internal policies.

Stay 100% Compliant with Leave Regulations Using Playroll

Managing Uruguayan public holidays across a distributed team can get complicated quickly, especially when you factor in movable holidays, sectoral agreements, and premium pay rules. Playroll helps you handle all of this in the background so your team gets paid correctly and on time.

With Playroll, you can hire employees in Uruguay without setting up a local entity, while we take care of employment contracts, statutory benefits, and payroll calculations that respect local holiday and overtime rules. Our in-country experts track changes to Uruguayan labour law and collective agreements, so your policies stay aligned with current requirements instead of last year’s rules.

You get clear visibility into upcoming public holidays, automated application of the right pay rates when someone works on a holiday, and accurate pro-rating for part-time staff. That means fewer manual calculations, fewer compliance risks, and a smoother experience for your Uruguay-based employees.

If you are planning to grow your team in Uruguay or already have employees there, Playroll can help you:

• Hire compliantly under local law at a predictable cost
• Automate payroll, including holiday and overtime premiums
• Standardise leave policies across countries while respecting local rules
• Reduce legal and administrative overhead for your HR and finance teams
• Give employees a transparent view of their holiday and leave entitlements

Partner with Playroll to turn Uruguay’s public holiday rules from a compliance headache into a simple, automated part of your global employment strategy.