Public holidays and penalty rates during Christmas under the Hair and Beauty Industry Award 2020

Home / HABA Blog / Public holidays and penalty rates during Christmas under the Hair and Beauty Industry Award 2020

Posted December 4, 2023

With Christmas just around the corner, it’s important for employers to be aware of their obligations under the Hair and Beauty Industry Award 2020. In a previous article, employers were informed about their obligations with respect to the annual closedown – see article here

To ensure that employees are paid their correct entitlements, employers should familiarise themselves with the public holidays that occur in their state or territory, as the public holidays can vary.

Public holidays under the Fair Work Act

Under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act), employees are entitled to be absent from work on a public holiday in the place they work. However, an employer may request an employee to work on a public holiday if the request is reasonable. In such cases, an employee may refuse the employer’s request if it is unreasonable or if they have reasonable grounds to refuse to work.

Some factors in determining whether an employer’s request to an employee to work or an employee’s refusal to work is reasonable include, but are not limited to:

• the nature of the workplace and work performed by the employee
• the employee’s personal circumstances including family responsibilities
• whether the employee could reasonably expect that the employer might request them to work on the public holiday
• whether the employee is entitled to overtime payments, penalty rates or other compensation for working on a public holiday
• whether the employee is employed full-time, part-time or as a casual
• the amount of notice in advance the employer has given the employee when making the request
• the amount of notice in advance the employee has given the employer when refusing the request
• any other relevant matter.

When are the public holidays during the Christmas season?

Public holiday	ACT	NSW	NT	Qld	SA	Tas	Vic	WA
Christmas Eve			Sun 24 Dec 7pm-midnight	Sun 24 Dec 6pm-midnight	Sun 24 Dec 7pm-midnight
Christmas Day	Mon 25 Dec	Mon 25 Dec	Mon 25 Dec	Mon 25 Dec	Mon 25 Dec	Mon 25 Dec	Mon 25 Dec	Mon 25 Dec
Boxing Day	Tues 26 Dec	Tues 26 Dec	Tues 26 Dec	Tues 26 Dec	Tues 26 Dec	Tues 26 Dec	Tues 26 Dec	Tues 26 Dec
New Year’s Eve			Sun 31 Dec 7pm-midnight		Sun 31 Dec 7pm-midnight
New Year’s Day 2024	Mon 1 Jan	Mon 1 Jan	Mon 1 Jan	Mon 1 Jan	Mon 1 Jan	Mon 1 Jan	Mon 1 Jan	Mon 1 Jan

 

What are the penalty rates?

Under the Hair and Beauty Industry Award 2020, employees are entitled to penalty rates for working on public holidays.

The penalty rate for full-time and part-time employees is 250% of their ordinary hourly rate for all hours worked on a public holiday.

For casual employees, the penalty rate is 250% of their ordinary hourly rate for all hours worked on a public holiday.

However, casual employees do not receive the 25% casual loading on a public holiday.

 

Please refer to the following tables:

Hairdressing salons – Adults (18 years of age and over) – Full-time and part-time
Classification	Description	Public holiday rate 250%
Level 1	Salon Assistant/Receptionist	$61.83
Level 3	Cert III Qualified Hairdresser	$65.45
Level 5	Cert IV Qualified Hairdresser	$68.68

 

Hairdressing salons – Adults (18 years of age and over) – Casual
Classification	Description	Public holiday rate 250%
Level 1	Salon Assistant/Receptionist	$61.83
Level 3	Cert III Qualified Hairdresser	$65.45
Level 5	Cert IV Qualified Hairdresser	$68.68

 

Hairdressing salons – Juniors (under 18 years of age) – Full-time and part-time
Classification	Description	Public holiday rate 250%
Level 1 (16 and under)	Salon Assistant/Receptionist	$30.93
Level 1 (17 years)	Salon Assistant/Receptionist	$46.38

 

Hairdressing salons – Juniors (under 18 years of age) – Casual
Classification	Description	Public holiday rate 250%
Level 1 (16 and under)	Salon Assistant/Receptionist	$30.93
Level 1 (17 years)	Salon Assistant/Receptionist	$46.38

 

 

Beauty Salons – Adults (18 years of age and over) – Full-time and part-time
Classification	Description	Public holiday rate 250%
Level 1	Salon Assistant/Receptionist	$61.83
Level 2	Unqualified or Cert II Beautician	$63.23
Level 3	Cert III Qualified Beauty Therapist	$65.45
Level 4	Cert IV Qualified Beauty Therapist	$66.68
Level 6	Diploma Qualified Beauty Therapist	$71.13

 

Beauty Salons – Adults (18 years of age and over) – Casual
Classification	Description	Public holiday rate 250%
Level 1	Salon Assistant/Receptionist	$61.83
Level 2	Unqualified or Cert II Beautician	$63.23
Level 3	Cert III Qualified Beauty Therapist	$65.45
Level 4	Cert IV Qualified Beauty Therapist	$66.68
Level 6	Diploma Qualified Beauty Therapist	$71.13

 

Beauty Salons – Juniors (under 18 years of age) – Full-time and part-time
Classification	Description	Public holiday rate 250%
Level 1 (16 and under)	Salon Assistant/Receptionist	$30.93
Level 1 (17 years)	Salon Assistant/Receptionist	$46.38
Level 2 (16 and under)	Unqualified or Cert II Beautician	$31.63
Level 2 (17 years)	Unqualified or Cert II Beautician	$47.43

 

Beauty Salons – Juniors (under 18 years of age) – Casual
Classification	Description	Public holiday rate 250%
Level 1 (16 and under)	Salon Assistant/Receptionist	$30.93
Level 1 (17 years)	Salon Assistant/Receptionist	$46.38
Level 2 (16 and under)	Unqualified or Cert II Beautician	$31.63
Level 2 (17 years)	Unqualified or Cert II Beautician	$47.43

For apprentice wage rates, please call the HABA Advice Line.

 

What payment does an employee receive if they do not work on a public holiday?

If an employee is absent from work on a public holiday and they normally have ordinary hours on that day, the FW Act provides an entitlement for the employee to be paid their base rate of pay for their ordinary hours on the day.

For example, if an employee normally works 8 hours on Mondays but has the day off because of the Christmas Day public holiday, they will still receive payment for the 8 hours at their base rate of pay.

On the other hand, if the employee does not normally work on Mondays (because they are part-time for example), they will not receive any payment on Monday because they do not have any ordinary hours on that day.

More information

HABA members can call the HABA Advice Line on 02 9221 9911 to discuss this topic and other workplace relations issues.