Philippine holidays: planning coverage for an offshore team

The Philippines observes considerably more public holidays than the US, UK, Canada or Australia. For an offshore arrangement that is not a problem — unless nobody discussed it, in which case it becomes one about four times a year.

Two categories, different rules

Philippine holidays fall into two types, and the distinction matters because the pay treatment differs.

Regular holidays are the fixed national ones — New Year’s Day, Independence Day, Christmas Day, and similar. An employee who does not work still receives their daily wage. An employee who does work receives a premium.

Special non-working days are the second tier, including things like All Saints’ Day and several proclaimed days. The default is no work, no pay, and working them attracts a smaller premium than a regular holiday.

There is also a category of special working days, where normal rules apply and only the label changes.

Why the calendar moves

Two things surprise foreign employers.

The list is proclaimed annually. The President issues a proclamation setting the following year’s holidays, usually well in advance, and dates for movable observances shift. You cannot plan five years ahead from a fixed list.

Additional days get declared. Local holidays for a city or province, election days, and occasional national declarations appear during the year, sometimes at short notice. A team in Zamboanga Sibugay may have a local holiday that Manila does not.

What this means for coverage

The practical question is not “how many holidays are there” but “what happens to my work on those days”, and there are three honest answers.

Nothing — the work waits. Correct for most administrative, bookkeeping and production work. A day’s pause is invisible if your assistant tells you in advance.

Coverage is arranged. Someone else on the team covers the critical parts. This is what an agency should be doing, and it is worth asking directly how they do it rather than assuming.

Your assistant works, at premium rates. Appropriate where a gap genuinely costs you money — live support, an inbox that must be watched, a market that does not pause.

Most businesses ask for the third and actually need the first. It is worth being honest about which, because the third is the expensive one.

Getting it right in fifteen minutes

At the start of the engagement, not in the week of the first holiday:

1. Ask for the year’s calendar, including local proclamations for the province your team sits in.
2. Mark the ones that collide with your own busy periods — month-end, tax deadlines, peak season.
3. Decide the treatment for each collision in advance: wait, cover, or work.
4. Agree who tells whom, and when. A week’s notice is reasonable; the morning of is not.
5. Put your own holidays in the same document. Your assistant should not be working through a day when nobody will read the output.

The reciprocal point people forget

Your assistant works your calendar for most purposes — your business days, your deadlines, your peak periods. Being unwilling to accommodate their national holidays while expecting them to work through their own evening is the sort of asymmetry people notice, and retention is downstream of it.

Frequently asked questions

How many public holidays does the Philippines have?

Typically around eighteen to twenty across both categories, though the exact number and dates are set by annual proclamation.

Do I have to give them off?

If you hire through an agency, the agency handles entitlements and you agree coverage. If you hire directly and the relationship is employment, statutory entitlements apply — see our guide to 13th month pay and statutory costs.

Can my assistant work a holiday?

Generally yes, at premium rates for employees. Agree it in advance rather than asking on the day.

What about my country’s holidays?

We work your calendar. Tell us which days you observe and your assistant treats them as non-working days unless you say otherwise.

How does cover actually work?

Someone briefed on your account steps in for the critical parts. That only exists if your provider employs a team rather than introducing you to an individual — which is the practical difference between an agency and a marketplace.