Can Employers Require Employees to Work on a Public Holiday in Malaysia?

Every so often, the government declares a public holiday with only days of notice — sometimes to mark a specific occasion, sometimes for reasons unrelated to the usual annual calendar. For a business with shifts, production runs, or client deadlines already scheduled, the question is immediate and practical: can you still ask staff to come in, and what does that cost you?

The short answer is yes, an employer can require an employee to work on a public holiday — but only with specific compensation, and there are limits worth knowing before you make the call.

Who Has the Power to Declare a Public Holiday?

Under Section 8 of the Holidays Act 1951, the responsible Minister can appoint any day as a public holiday in Peninsular Malaysia, the Federal Territories, or a specific state (after consulting that state). In practice, this is the power used whenever a special, one-off ("ad hoc") public holiday is declared outside the usual annual calendar — and once declared, it's legally binding in the same way as the 11 gazetted holidays employers list at the start of the year. For the full rundown of what those 11 holidays are and how they're chosen, see Public Holidays under Malaysian Law.

Does This Apply to Every State the Same Way?

Not quite. The Employment Act 1955 only applies to Peninsular Malaysia (West Malaysia). Sabah and Sarawak (East Malaysia) have their own separate labour ordinances, which cover similar ground but aren't identical in their specific provisions — so if you operate across both regions, don't assume the Peninsular rules apply uniformly to your East Malaysian staff.

Can an Employer Require an Employee to Work on a Public Holiday?

Yes — Section 60 of the Employment Act allows an employer to require an employee to work on a paid public holiday, but the employee must be compensated for it. Under Section 60D, an employee required to work on a public holiday must receive two times their ordinary hourly rate for normal working hours on that day, and three times their ordinary hourly rate for any overtime worked beyond that.

What About Travel and Other Allowances?

Section 60D(3)(b) also entitles the employee to a travel allowance for that day, if one is already payable under the terms of their employment agreement. However, the same provision makes clear they are not entitled to an increased rate of housing allowance or food allowance for working the holiday — those stay at their normal rate.

What Happens If an Employer Wrongfully Denies the Holiday?

If an employer fails to grant the public holiday (or the required compensation for working it) as the Employment Act requires, they can face penalties under Section 99A. Employees who believe their holiday pay or leave has been wrongly denied can raise the matter with the Labour Department (JTKSM).

Can Employers Choose a Replacement Day Instead?

If a public holiday falls at a time that's genuinely difficult for the business — a busy production period, a client deadline, or simply because it was announced too close to the date to rearrange schedules — Section 60D(1A) allows the employer to designate a different day as a paid public holiday in substitution. This is often the most practical route for short-notice ad hoc holidays specifically, since there's less time to plan around them than the 11 holidays known well in advance. Our guide on Substitute Holidays & Replacement Leave in Malaysia walks through how to do this properly, including a request form template and the notice requirements involved.

A Practical Scenario: When a Holiday Is Announced With Short Notice

Say a special public holiday is announced only a few days before it happens — this has occurred more than once in Malaysia's recent history. Your business already has shifts scheduled and can't simply shut down. You generally have three options:

1. Grant the holiday as normal, giving staff the day off with standard holiday pay.
2. Require staff to work, paying the 2x/3x compensation described above.
3. Designate a replacement day under Section 60D(1A), with proper advance notice to affected employees, and grant the original date as a normal working day instead.

Which option makes sense depends on your operational needs and how much notice you're able to give — but whichever you choose, the compensation and notice requirements above still apply.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this apply the same way in Sabah and Sarawak?

Not identically. Sabah and Sarawak are governed by their own labour ordinances rather than the Employment Act 1955, so while the general principle of holiday pay protection exists, the specific provisions may differ. Check the relevant state ordinance or consult a labour law specialist if you operate in East Malaysia.

Can an employee simply refuse to work on a public holiday if asked?

This tends to come down to what's in the employment contract and company policy, and in many workplaces it's handled by mutual agreement rather than a strict compulsion either way. If requiring holiday work is a regular part of your operations (retail, hospitality, healthcare, manufacturing with continuous shifts), it's worth spelling out the expectation and compensation clearly in the employment contract from the outset, rather than relying on an ad hoc conversation each time.

What if the public holiday falls on an employee's usual rest day?

That's a related but distinct scenario with its own rules — see Difference Between Off Day and Rest Day in Malaysia for how rest-day and public-holiday entitlements interact.

Related Reads on AJobThing

• Public Holidays under Malaysian Law (Updated 2026)
• Substitute Holidays & Replacement Leave in Malaysia: HR Guide
• Difference Between Off Day and Rest Day in Malaysia
• Leave Types Under the Employment Act (with Leave Request Templates)

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