Holiday Pay in the Philippines: December 2026 Computation

By Robin Salvador, co-founder, Caffeine Brothers
Last updated: October 24, 2026

Quick answer: Holiday pay in the Philippines depends on the type of day. On a regular holiday, a covered worker gets 100% of the daily wage even without working and 200% for working the first 8 hours. On a special (non-working) day, no work means no pay, and work earns 130%. December 2026 has two regular holidays (December 25 and 30) and three special days (December 8, 24 and 31). At the Metro Manila minimum of ₱755, a worker on duty all five days earns ₱5,964.50 for them, ₱2,189.50 more than five ordinary days.

Many of the cafés and offices we supply stay open through the holidays, and December is the month owners ask us most about staff pay. This guide reads Proclamation No. 1006, DOLE Labor Advisory No. 12-25 and DOLE’s handbook on statutory benefits, then works the numbers at the new Metro Manila minimum wage. It is a plain-language summary and not legal advice. For a specific case, ask your DOLE field office or a labor lawyer.

Which days in December 2026 are holidays?

Proclamation No. 1006, signed September 3, 2025, lists the 2026 holidays. December has five of them, and Bonifacio Day falls just before the month on November 30. New Year’s Day 2027 comes from the 2027 proclamation.

None of the December holidays falls on a Sunday this year. For a business with a Monday to Saturday schedule, they all land on regular workdays, which makes the computation simpler.

How is holiday pay computed?

DOLE’s 2023 handbook defines holiday pay as “the payment of the regular daily wage for any unworked regular holiday.” A covered employee gets at least 100% of the daily wage on a regular holiday without reporting for work, provided the employee was present or on paid leave on the workday immediately before the holiday. Work on a regular holiday earns at least 200% for the first 8 hours.

Special (non-working) days work differently. Labor Advisory No. 12-25 applies the “no work, no pay” principle unless a company policy, practice or collective bargaining agreement grants pay. If the employee works, the first 8 hours earn an extra 30% of the basic wage, so 130%. On a special day that is also the employee’s rest day, the rate is 150%.

Overtime on these days is computed on the day’s rate. For hours beyond 8 on a regular holiday, the employee gets the hourly rate × 200% × 130%. On a special day it is the hourly rate × 130% × 130%. The chart and table below apply these rules to the two Metro Manila minimum wage rates under Wage Order NCR-28.

The ₱718 tier covers retail and service establishments employing 15 workers or fewer, according to the DOLE statement reported by GMA News on September 26, 2026. That band overlaps with the holiday pay exemption below in a way that trips people up, so it is worth reading the next section closely.

Who is not covered by holiday pay?

DOLE’s handbook lists six groups outside the holiday pay rule: government employees; retail and service establishments regularly employing fewer than ten workers; kasambahay and persons in the personal service of another; managerial employees who meet the handbook’s three conditions; officers or members of a managerial staff; and field personnel and others whose time is unsupervised, including those paid purely on commission or a fixed amount for a task.

For cafés this creates three groups. A café with fewer than ten workers pays the ₱718 minimum in Metro Manila and is outside the holiday pay rule, so it does not owe the 100% for an unworked regular holiday. A café with ten to fifteen workers also pays ₱718 but is covered by holiday pay. A café with more than fifteen workers pays ₱755 and is covered.

The premium pay rules for special days and rest days have a different exclusion list in the handbook, and it does not exclude small retail and service businesses. So a five-person coffee kiosk that opens on December 8 still owes 130% to staff who work that day. Many small businesses pay regular holiday rates anyway as a matter of policy, which the rules allow.

What if the café closes on December 24 or 31?

Closing on a special day costs a daily-paid employee that day’s wage, since no work, no pay applies. Closing on a regular holiday does not: the covered employee still gets 100%.

The absence rules matter around Christmas. If an employee is on leave without pay on the workday right before a regular holiday, the employee may not be paid for that holiday unless the employee works it. The handbook adds that when the day before the holiday is a non-work day in the establishment or the employee’s rest day, the employee is entitled to holiday pay if the employee worked on the day immediately before that non-work day. In practice, if a café closes on December 24, a worker who worked on December 23 is still entitled to holiday pay for December 25.

How much does one worker earn across the five December holidays?

Here are three schedules for a daily-paid worker on a Monday to Saturday week, with Sunday as the rest day. None of the five December holidays is a rest day in 2026, so the 150% and 260% rates do not come into play.

The difference between opening and closing is large for staff. A covered ₱755 worker earns ₱4,454.50 more for those five days if the café opens all of them than if it closes all of them. For owners, the extra cost of opening is the ₱2,189.50 premium per worker over normal days, plus whatever the holiday sales bring in.

Holiday premiums are separate from the 13th month pay. DOLE’s handbook leaves premium, night shift differential and holiday pay out of the “basic salary” used for the 13th month, unless an agreement, company practice or policy treats them as part of basic salary. Our 13th month pay computation guide covers that calculation, including the 2026 wage change.

Are monthly-paid employees paid differently?

The handbook defines monthly-paid employees as those “paid every day of the month, including unworked rest days, special days, and regular holidays,” and uses a 365-day factor for them. Their salary already covers unworked holidays, so closing on December 24 or 25 does not reduce it. If they work on a holiday, the premium on top of the day already paid is what changes: an extra 100% on a regular holiday and an extra 30% on a special day.

Daily-paid employees are paid for days actually worked and for unworked regular holidays. For a daily-paid worker who does not work Sundays, the handbook’s suggested factor is 313 days, which includes 12 regular holidays and 8 special days. At ₱755, that gives an estimated equivalent monthly rate of ₱19,692.92. Our barista salary guide shows the full monthly cost with SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG.

What about night shifts on a holiday?

Night shift differential stacks on top of the holiday rate. The handbook’s guide table gives 220% for a night hour on a regular holiday (2 × 1.1) and 143% on a special day. At ₱755, one night hour on Christmas Day pays ₱207.63. A bakery café that bakes from 4 a.m. or a 24-hour kiosk should read our night shift differential guide for the full multiplier table.

What changes in December 2027?

Proclamation No. 1427, reported by GMA News on September 11, 2026, already sets the 2027 dates. December 8, 2027 (Wednesday) and December 31, 2027 (Friday) are special (non-working) days, and December 24, 2027 (Friday) is again an additional special day. Christmas Day falls on Saturday, December 25, 2027, and Rizal Day on Thursday, December 30, 2027. For businesses with Sunday as the rest day, Christmas 2027 will not be a rest day either, but the pay rules for 2027 will come from a new DOLE labor advisory.

How to prepare your December payroll

1. Check your head count. Count workers regularly employed. Under ten in a retail or service business means the holiday pay rule does not apply, though special day premiums still do.
2. Confirm the wage tier. In Metro Manila, use ₱755, or ₱718 if you are a retail or service establishment with 15 workers or fewer.
3. Publish the December roster early. Mark who works December 8, 24, 25, 30 and 31, and which day is each person’s rest day.
4. Track attendance on December 23 and 29. These are the workdays before the two regular holidays, and they decide holiday pay for absent staff.
5. Apply the right multiplier per day. 130% for special days worked, 200% for regular holidays worked, 100% for regular holidays not worked, and the overtime and night rates on top.
6. Keep it separate from the 13th month pay. The 13th month is due on or before December 24 and is based on basic salary only.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Proclamation No. 1006, s. 2025. The LawPhil Project. Signed September 3, 2025. Used for the 2026 regular holidays, special days and additional special days with their weekdays.
2. DOLE Labor Advisory No. 12-25. Grant Thornton Philippines outsourcing alert, October 14, 2025. Used for the 2026 pay rules for regular holidays, special (non-working) days and the special working day.
3. Handbook on Workers’ Statutory Monetary Benefits, 2023 edition. DOLE Bureau of Working Conditions. Used for the holiday pay definition, coverage exclusions, absence rules, premium and overtime rates, monthly-paid and daily-paid factors, and the guide computation table.
4. DOLE: P60 wage hike in NCR takes effect Sept. 26. GMA News, September 26, 2026. Used for the NCR-28 rates of ₱755 and ₱718 and who gets the ₱718 rate.
5. Malacañang bares holidays for 2027. GMA News, September 11, 2026. Used for Proclamation No. 1427 and the 2027 December dates.

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