Sabah Public Holidays 2025: Employer Work & Leave Guide

The public holiday calendar in Sabah, Malaysia is a key planning tool for work schedules. It tells you when to adjust manpower, when to prepare for leave requests, and how to calculate payroll for holiday work. 

With major breaks like Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Kaamatan, and Christmas in 2025, having a clear view of the Sabah public holiday schedule helps you manage both staff expectations and business performance.

This article will share the 2025 Malaysia Sabah public holiday list and explain how to manage work schedules effectively around them.

How Public Holidays Affect Employers in Sabah

Public holidays are paid rest days. If an employee is not required to work, they should still receive their paid public holiday entitlement for that day based on the terms in their contract and your company policy. Keep the holiday list visible to supervisors so they can approve leave fairly and avoid clashes near peak periods such as Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Kaamatan, and Christmas.

Handling Work on Public Holidays

Sometimes operations must run on a public holiday, retail, logistics, hospitality, and essential services are common examples. 

When an employee is required to work on a public holiday, pay the public-holiday entitlement for the day and add the public-holiday work premium set out in your policy and the applicable rules for Sabah. 

If the employee works beyond normal daily hours, treat those extra hours as overtime. Keep a clean record: duty roster, written request to work, clock-ins, and payroll notes.

Overtime and Holiday Pay (Employment Act 1955 - Sabah Provisions)

To keep payroll accurate, separate three items in your calculation:

1. Public holiday pay for the day itself,

2. Public-holiday work premium for hours worked on the holiday, and

3. Overtime for hours beyond normal working time.

Use your standard daily rate for the first item, apply your public-holiday premium for the second, and apply your overtime formula for the third. This simple split prevents double counting and makes audits easy.

Key Public Holidays in Sabah (2025)

Work Scheduling During Sabah Public Holidays

To ensure your company running smoothly despite holidays in Sabah, below are the tips for create a good work schedule:

Planning Shifts and Manpower for Holiday Periods

Start with a year map. Circle the clusters where staffing usually gets tight: Chinese New Year (29–30 Jan), Aidilfitri (31 Mar–1 Apr), Kaamatan (30–31 May), Merdeka/Sabah Day with Monday off (31 Aug–1 Sep), and Christmas week (24–25 Dec). 

Build an A/B team rotation for those weeks, assign “anchor” shifts (opening, peak, closing), and cross-train staff in simple, high-impact tasks such as POS, order packing, or front-desk triage. This gives you options when people swap shifts or call in sick.

Communicating Holiday Schedules to Employees

Publish the holiday roster early with a one-page note: who is on duty, how holiday pay is calculated, what happens for replacement days, and the deadline for leave requests near popular breaks. Use the same format for every festive period so supervisors and staff know where to look and what to follow.

Balancing Employee Requests for Leave Around Public Holidays

Festive weeks bring many requests. Set a fair quota per team, run a simple first-come-first-served or rotation system, and keep a waiting list for cancellations.

For customer-facing roles, bring in part-timers during CNY, Hari Raya, Kaamatan, and Christmas. Short onboarding works best: one checklist, a quick SOP, and a fixed shift template (for example, 10 am–4 pm or 4 pm–10 pm).

FAQ

How many public holidays does Sabah have in a year?

The 2025 list in this guide covers national holidays and Sabah-specific days such as Kaamatan and the Governor’s Birthday, plus Christmas Eve which appears on the Sabah calendar. Use the table above as your working list for staffing and payroll.

Is the Kaamatan Festival a compulsory holiday for all employers in Sabah?

Yes, 30 and 31 May are part of the Sabah calendar and should be treated as paid public holidays for eligible employees, based on contracts and company policy.

Can an employer replace a public holiday with another day off?

Where business needs make closure difficult, employers can set a replacement off-day. Do this through a written notice, publish it with the duty roster, and get employee acknowledgement ahead of time.

What is the penalty if an employer fails to pay for work done on a public holiday?

Non-payment can lead to disputes and enforcement action. Keep calculations simple and documented: holiday pay for the day, the public-holiday work premium for hours worked, and overtime for hours beyond normal time.

Do part-time or contract workers get paid for public holidays in Sabah?

If a part-timer or contract worker is scheduled to work on a public holiday, pay them according to their contract and your policy for public-holiday work. If they are not scheduled, holiday pay usually does not apply. Pro-rate payments based on agreed hours.

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