Q COSTA RICA – The recent holiday left many workers in the dumps given that both Christmas and New Years Day fell on a Sunday. But, what’s in store for 2017? Much of the same?
To overcome what can only be described as a bitter gulp, the good news is that all 10 remaining ‘national’ holidays, including January 1, 2018, fall on weekdays.
In Costa Rica, all ‘national holidays’ are celebrated the day they fall on. Like this past Christmas and New Years Day, workers don’t get the following Monday or any other day off. Sucks. The only national holiday that moves to the following Monday is the Dia de la Culturas on October 12, according to the Labour Code.
This year, October 12 is on a Thursday, thus the day off is Monday, October 16.
Of the other national holidays, four are on a Monday, three on a Tuesday and two on a Friday. The other two remaining holidays, August 2 falls on a Wednesday and Good Thursday, of course on a Thursday.
What this means that in 2018, there will be at least six long weekends. This does not take into account workers who, regardless of the holiday or what day it falls on, in any event make a long weekend of it.
With the exception of August 2 and October 12, all national holidays are paid holidays. This means that workers required to work on the holiday are paid double. If there is overtime involved, the overtime is paid at triple. In Costa Rica working on a holiday is not mandatory, only if the employee wishes to do so.
For the August 2 and October 12 holidays, non-mandatory payment holidays, employers paying monthly, bi-monthly or weekly must include the day in the normal pay period, whether the employee works or not. If the employe does work on the holiday, there is double pay.
Not getting paid are jobs paid for the day or contract, even though the actual payment is made weekly, that is the salary is based on day work and not fixed such as a “quincena” (every two weeks) or monthly. If a day worker works on the holiday, they get the normal day’s pay and not double as the quincena worker for example.
In the latter, it may include such jobs as domestic work (maid), gardener or handyman, hired for a specific job for specific days and not deemed full-time employees.
For any doubts about holiday pay visit the Ministry of Labour (Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad Social) website or call 800-TRABAJO (800 872 2256).
What are the national holidays of 2017?
- January 1 (Sunday) – New Year’s Day
- April 11 (Tuesday) – Battle of Rivas
- April 13 (Thursday)- Good Thursday
- April 14 (Friday)- Good Friday
- May 1 (Monday) – Labour Day
- July 25 (Tuesday) – Annexation of Guanacaste
- August 2 (Wednesday) – Our Lady of Los Angeles
- August 15 (Tuesday) – Mother’s Day
- September 15 (Friday) – Independence Day
- October 12 (Thursday) – Day of Cultures
- December 25 (Monday) – Christmas Day
