Public Holidays 2027 Singapore: Pay and Rest-Day Rules

MOM’s list of public holidays for 2027 in Singapore has 11 gazetted days, and four fall on a weekend: Chinese New Year on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 February, Labour Day on Saturday 1 May and Christmas Day on Saturday 25 December. For an employee on a five-day week, MOM’s rule is another day off or one extra day’s salary at the gross rate for a Saturday holiday, and the next working day as the paid holiday when a Sunday holiday falls on their rest day.

The next holiday comes first. Deepavali is on Sunday 8 November 2026, and MOM says Monday 9 November 2026 will be a public holiday if your rest day falls on 8 November 2026. If you roster staff across that weekend, settle the pay rule before the roster goes out.

This is general information from MOM’s pages as read on 17 October 2026, for employees covered by the Employment Act. It is not legal advice.

Which days are the 11 public holidays in 2027, and where do they fall?

All dates below are in 2027. This list follows MOM’s 2027 announcement and public holidays page. On a five-day week MOM treats Saturday as the non-working day and Sunday as the rest day. For a six-day week with a Sunday rest day we treat Saturday as an ordinary working day: that is our reading, because MOM gives the Saturday example only for a five-day week.

• Friday 1 January, New Year’s Day. Working day: a paid holiday.
• Saturday 6 February, Chinese New Year (first day). Five-day week: a day off or one extra day’s salary at the gross rate. Six-day week: a paid holiday.
• Sunday 7 February, Chinese New Year (second day). Rest day: the next working day, Monday 8 February, is the paid holiday.
• Wednesday 10 March, Hari Raya Puasa. Working day: a paid holiday.
• Friday 26 March, Good Friday. Working day: a paid holiday.
• Saturday 1 May, Labour Day. Five-day week: a day off or one extra day’s salary at the gross rate. Six-day week: a paid holiday.
• Monday 17 May, Hari Raya Haji. Working day: a paid holiday.
• Thursday 20 May, Vesak Day. Working day: a paid holiday.
• Monday 9 August, National Day. Working day: a paid holiday.
• Thursday 28 October, Deepavali. Working day: a paid holiday.
• Saturday 25 December, Christmas Day. Five-day week: a day off or one extra day’s salary at the gross rate. Six-day week: a paid holiday.

Counted through, a five-day employee with a Sunday rest day has seven holidays on working days, Monday 8 February in place of the Sunday, and three Saturdays that each carry a day off or a day’s salary. On our reading of the six-day case, a six-day employee with a Sunday rest day has all 11 on working days once Monday 8 February replaces the Sunday. That count is our arithmetic and inference from MOM’s dates, not a MOM statement.

What happens when a public holiday falls on a Saturday or a Sunday?

MOM’s entitlement and pay page sets two rules for employees covered by the Employment Act. A holiday on a non-working day earns another day off or one extra day’s salary in lieu, at the gross rate of pay. A holiday on your rest day makes the following working day a paid public holiday. A person not covered by the Act follows their employment contract.

The Monday rule depends on the rest day, and the employer chooses it: MOM’s hours of work page says it can be a Sunday or any other day. Take someone whose rest day is a Wednesday. If they work Sundays, then on our reading 7 February is an ordinary working day for them. If Sunday is their non-working day, the non-working-day rule above would apply instead, again on our reading. MOM’s pages do not walk through these rosters, so check unusual ones with MOM.

Attendance matters too. MOM says a holiday falling on approved unpaid leave is not paid. In its example, with approved unpaid leave on 8 August the 9 August holiday is still paid, but with approved unpaid leave from 8 to 10 August it is not. Being absent without consent or a reasonable excuse on the working day before or after a holiday also costs the holiday pay. A holiday that falls inside a notice period still counts as part of it (see our notice period guide).

Is Monday 9 November 2026 a public holiday for your staff?

MOM’s public holidays page lists Deepavali on Sunday 8 November 2026 and says Monday 9 November 2026 will be a public holiday if your rest day falls on 8 November 2026. For staff with a Sunday rest day, on a five-day or six-day week, Monday 9 November is therefore the paid holiday. For staff with another rest day, MOM’s conditional wording does not give them the Monday. On our reading, 8 November is then the holiday itself, under the working-day rule if they work Sundays or the non-working-day rule if they do not.

Checklist for 8 and 9 November 2026:

1. List each person’s rest day: Sunday or other.
2. If someone with a Sunday rest day must work on Monday 9 November, our reading of MOM’s working-day row is an extra day’s salary at the basic rate, on top of the gross rate for the holiday, plus overtime beyond normal hours.
3. If someone is asked to work on Sunday 8 November, their rest day, rest-day pay applies (below) and Monday 9 November stays their paid holiday.
4. Check approved unpaid leave on and around the two dates, and read the contract for anyone outside the Act.

What do you pay when someone works on a public holiday?

MOM’s entitlement and pay page gives three cases. It was last updated on 30 July 2025, so it is older than the 2027 list, but it names no year and MOM’s 2027 press release (updated 23 July 2026) repeats the extra day’s salary at the basic rate.

• Holiday on a working day: an extra day’s salary at the basic rate, the gross rate for the holiday, and overtime pay beyond normal hours (our overtime pay guide works the sums). Monthly gross salary already includes holiday pay, so the employer only adds the extra day.
• Holiday on a non-working day (Saturday on a five-day week): overtime pay for extra hours worked on the Saturday, and one extra day’s salary at the gross rate or another day off.
• Holiday on a rest day: payment for work done on a rest day, overtime beyond normal hours, and the next working day as the paid holiday.

MOM’s hours of work page sets rest-day pay, for employees covered under Part 4 of the Employment Act, by hours and by who asked. At the employer’s request: one day’s salary for up to half the normal daily hours, two days’ for more than half, and two days’ plus overtime beyond normal hours. At the employee’s request: half a day’s, one day’s, and one day’s plus overtime. The employer cannot compel rest-day work except in exceptional circumstances.

MOM also says employer and employee may mutually agree to substitute the public holiday for another working day. Its 2027 press release adds that employers may grant time off in lieu, for a mutually agreed number of hours, to workmen earning more than S$4,500 a month, non-workmen earning more than S$2,600 and all managers and executives.

### A worked example with MOM’s formula

This example is illustrative: a non-workman who is not a manager or executive, on S$2,600 a month in gross and basic salary, with no allowances. MOM’s daily-rate formula for a monthly-rated employee is 12 × monthly salary ÷ (52 × average days required to work in a week), for both rates.

• Five-day week: 12 × S$2,600 ÷ (52 × 5) = S$31,200 ÷ 260 = S$120 a day.
• Six-day week: S$31,200 ÷ (52 × 6) = S$31,200 ÷ 312 = S$100 a day.

Suppose this person works on Saturday 1 May 2027, Labour Day. On a five-day week the entitlement is one extra day’s salary at the gross rate, S$120, or another day off, plus the Saturday overtime in MOM’s table (not worked out here). On a six-day week, on our reading, Saturday is a working day, so it is one extra day’s salary at the basic rate, S$100, on top of the gross rate for the holiday. The S$2,600 is invented to keep the sums clean. MOM says the gross rate includes allowances an employee is entitled to under the contract, except travel, food and housing allowances, while the basic rate excludes any allowance, so with allowances the two rates can differ. MOM’s pages also offer a public holiday pay calculator, which we did not run; use it for real payroll.

What to check before you fix the 2027 roster

1. Sort staff by coverage. Seafarers, domestic workers, statutory board employees and civil servants are outside the Employment Act, so their terms follow the contract. Part 4, which covers rest days and hours, applies only to workmen earning a monthly basic salary of S$4,500 or less and to other covered employees earning S$2,600 or less, and it does not cover managers or executives. For anyone outside Part 4, MOM says terms follow the employment contract.
2. Mark each person as five-day or six-day, with their rest day, and note any approved flexible work arrangement that changes their days.
3. For 6 February, 1 May and 25 December, confirm how five-day staff receive the Saturday entitlement (another day off or one extra day’s salary at the gross rate). MOM’s page does not say who chooses, so settle it in your contract or leave policy. For Monday 8 February, list who has a Sunday rest day.
4. For each holiday you will open on, record who works, the rate and any substitution or time off in lieu agreed.
5. For staff with allowances, confirm the rate: gross for the holiday, basic for the extra day’s pay.
6. Diary two rechecks: before Sunday 8 November 2026 and in December 2026.

This guide’s Deepavali section was last checked on 17 October 2026 and is for the days before 9 November 2026; after that, use the 2027 sections only.

Related reading: the month-end close checklist is a place for a holiday-pay line, the guide to writing a process people use can help you document the roster rule, and the Progressive Wage Model checklist covers local-staff wage floors, a separate rule. More are under productivity.

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