Add a Rest Day, Day Off, or Work Day on a Public Holiday in brioHR Rostering (Manager Guide)

Audience & Scope

Audience: Manager

Module: Time Attendance

Country: Global

Pre-requisites: Team (Manager) Permission for Time Attendance Module

Introduction

By default, when a public holiday (PH) falls on a scheduled working day, it's treated as a paid holiday. When it falls on an employee's Rest Day or Day Off, the day type stays as Rest/Off.

Managers can now change this on the roster — setting the day to Rest Day, Day Off, or Work Day (Full/Half) directly on a public holiday — for employees on both Shift and Flexi work arrangements. This ensures the system:

Applies the correct overtime type and rate for work done on a PH that falls on a rest day or day off.
Keeps monthly/weekly working day counts accurate.
Reflects the correct day type on the roster, timesheet, and payroll.

Why Change the Day Type on a Public Holiday?

Some teams need to record that a team member is scheduled to rest, be off, or work a full/half day even though the date is a public holiday — for example, when their normal rest day happens to coincide with the PH, but they're still asked to work. Setting this correctly ensures the right overtime type is recorded (see table below).

Step-by-Step Guide: Add a Rest Day, Day Off, or Work Day on a Public Holiday

Step 1 – Access the Rostering Page

Go to Team > Time Attendance.
Click on the Rostering tab

Step 2 – Select the Employee and Date

Filter by the employee's name in the search box.
Locate the public holiday you want to update.
Hover over the box and click the plus (+)/edit (pencil) icon.

Step 3 – Choose the Day Type

Shift Schedule Employees

Assuming no 'day type' has been assigned:

A dropdown will appear. In addition to + Create new shift and + Choose from existing shifts, you'll see a REST & OFF section:

Rest day
Day off

Flexible Schedule Employee

The default will show Full day, but you can also change it to:

Replace as Work – Half day
Replace as Rest day
Replace as Day off

Select the option that matches what you want to set for that public holiday.

IMPORTANT:

Flexi employees are not marked as "absent" on public holidays if they do not clock in.

NOTE:

You can only set one day type per employee per public holiday. Selecting a new option replaces any existing shift, rest day, or day off already set for that date.

How Overtime Is Calculated

What the PH is set to	Overtime counted under	Overtime type applied	Are all worked hours OT?
Work Day with Full/Half day or Shift assigned	OT on PH	Public Holiday OT rate	Yes — all hours worked count as OT
Rest Day with Full/Half day or Shift assigned	OT on Rest Day (PH)	Rest Day OT rate	Yes — all hours worked count as OT
Day Off with Full/Half day or Shift assigned	OT on Day Off (PH)	Public Holiday OT rate	Yes — all hours worked count as OT
Rest Day / Day Off (no work assigned)	-	—	Not applicable; no OT hours worked

Scenario example:

Employee Schedule: Work days: Monday - Friday, Day Off: Saturday, Rest Day: Sunday
If a PH falls on a Sunday (Rest Day for employee) and a shift/work is assigned to the employee, the hours worked will be recorded in the timesheet as OT on Rest Day (PH). If approved, the OT will be paid out at the Rest Day OT rate.
If a PH falls on a Saturday (Day Off for employee) and a shift is assigned to the employee, the hours worked will be recorded in the timesheet as OT on Day Off (PH). If approved, the OT will be paid out at the Public Holiday OT rate.

NOTE:

All schedules can be edited
The schedule assigned to an employee can also be changed

Only Admins with access to 'Schedules and Shifts' in Admin Settings can make changes to schedules and schedule assignments.

These overtime types appear in Timesheet Detail

Common Issues/FAQ

Q1: Can an employee apply leave on a public holiday that's been set to a Work Day?

A: No. Employees cannot apply leave on a public holiday, even if it has been overridden to a Work Day.

Q2: Will a Flexi employee be marked absent if they don't clock in on a public holiday set to Rest Day or Day Off?

A: No. The system does not automatically mark Flexi employees as absent on a public holiday if they have no clock-in record.

Q3: What happens if the employee's work schedule has "Expected to work on Public Holidays" checked?

A: If that setting is enabled, no public holiday roster entry is created at all — the day is treated as a normal working day with no PH pay or overtime rate, and this Rest Day/Day Off/Work Day override doesn't apply. Uncheck the setting if you want the PH to appear on the roster with these options available.

Q4: What happens if a PH and Annual Leave fall on the same day and the employee works

A: Public Holiday overtime takes priority over Normal overtime.

Q5: My employees are on a schedule where they are 'expected to work on public holiday'. Can I assign them PH rates?

A: No, if the employee's schedule has 'expected to work on public holiday' enabled, no PH will show in their roster. Since the system does not record PH for their roster, no PH rates can apply.

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Add a Rest Day, Day Off, or Work Day on a Public Holiday in brioHR Rostering (Manager Guide)

This article explains how managers can set a public holiday as a Rest Day, Day Off, or Work Day in brioHR rostering, so the correct overtime type and rate are applied.