Small Business Holiday Planning Guide Australia 2026

Annual Holiday Calendar Planning

Successful small businesses approach public holidays strategically, planning months in advance rather than reacting to each holiday as it arrives. Early January is the ideal time to map out the entire year's holiday schedule and develop comprehensive response plans.

Begin by marking all national public holidays on your business calendar for 2026. These include New Year's Day, Australia Day, Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, Queen's Birthday (noting the different dates by state), Christmas Day, and Boxing Day. Then add state-specific holidays relevant to your location and customer base.

Consider how each holiday affects your business operations. Retail businesses may see increased trade before holidays but closure requirements on certain days. Service businesses might experience reduced demand during holiday periods. Manufacturing operations face disruption when supplies or deliveries are affected by widespread closures.

Create a response plan for each holiday period. Will you close entirely, operate with reduced hours, or maintain full operations? The answer may differ for each holiday based on customer demand, staff availability, and regulatory requirements. Document these decisions and communicate them to staff well in advance.

Use our 2026 Australian Calendar as your reference tool when planning. The calendar clearly shows when holidays fall and helps identify long weekend opportunities and potential trading impacts.

Understanding Trading Restrictions

Australian states and territories have varying rules about trading on public holidays, with some days more restricted than others. Understanding these regulations prevents inadvertent breaches and helps you make informed decisions about holiday operations.

Good Friday and Christmas Day have the most stringent trading restrictions across most states. Retail businesses are generally prohibited from opening, with limited exceptions for essential services, small shops, and certain tourist areas. These restrictions aim to protect workers and acknowledge the days' cultural significance.

Anzac Day trading is restricted until 1pm in most states, allowing morning commemorations to proceed without commercial intrusion. After 1pm, normal trading rules typically apply, though some businesses choose to remain closed all day out of respect for the occasion.

Other public holidays generally permit trading, though penalty rate obligations make opening a business decision based on expected revenue versus increased labour costs. Each state has specific rules about exempt and non-exempt shops, with small businesses often having greater flexibility than larger retailers.

Check your specific state's regulations through the relevant state government business portal. Regulations change periodically, and penalties for non-compliance can be significant. When in doubt, contact your industry association or state business regulatory authority for guidance.

Managing Employee Entitlements

Public holiday employee entitlements represent one of the most complex areas of Australian workplace law. Small businesses must correctly manage these obligations to avoid underpayment claims and maintain positive employee relations.

Full-time and part-time employees who would ordinarily work on a public holiday are entitled to a paid day off at their base rate of pay. This applies regardless of whether your business opens or closes for the holiday. The key question is whether the employee would normally have worked that day.

Casual employees have no entitlement to paid days off but must receive appropriate penalty rates if they work on public holidays. Common penalty rates range from 175% to 275% of the ordinary rate, depending on the applicable award. Casuals can also refuse unreasonable requests to work on public holidays.

When requesting employees to work on public holidays, reasonableness matters. Consider the employee's personal circumstances, the notice provided, and the nature of your business. Essential services and hospitality businesses have greater latitude to require holiday work than businesses without operational necessity.

Calculate holiday pay obligations for each period and include them in your cash flow forecasting. The cost of paying employees who don't work plus penalty rates for those who do can significantly impact holiday period profitability. Factor these costs into pricing and trading decisions.

Staff Rostering Strategies

Effective rostering around public holidays balances operational needs, employee preferences, and cost management. Start planning holiday rosters early to accommodate staff requests and ensure adequate coverage.

Survey staff about their holiday availability and preferences well in advance. Some employees prefer working holidays for the penalty rates, while others prioritise time with family. Understanding preferences helps create rosters that satisfy both business needs and employee desires where possible.

Develop fair systems for allocating popular holidays when more staff want time off than the business can accommodate. Rotating allocations, seniority systems, or first-requested-first-served approaches all have merits. Whatever system you choose, apply it consistently and transparently.

Consider skeleton staffing for holiday operations if full staffing isn't essential. Reduced service levels or limited operating hours can maintain customer access while managing labour costs. Communicate any changes to customers in advance through signage, social media, and other channels.

Cross-train employees so holiday absences don't create skill gaps. If your only qualified operator of certain equipment takes holidays, operations may be impossible regardless of other staff availability. Redundancy in critical skills provides flexibility in holiday rostering.

Cash Flow Management Around Holidays

Public holidays disrupt normal business cash flow patterns through reduced trading days, changed customer behaviour, and increased labour costs. Proactive cash flow management prevents holiday periods from creating financial stress.

Map out expected revenue changes during holiday periods based on historical patterns and current conditions. Some businesses see pre-holiday sales spikes followed by post-holiday lulls. Others experience reduced activity throughout extended holiday periods. Understanding your pattern enables better planning.

Account for increased costs during holiday periods beyond just penalty rates. Suppliers may require pre-orders with earlier payment terms. Security and maintenance services may charge premium rates. Seasonal inventory needs may require upfront investment before holiday trading begins.

Build cash reserves specifically for holiday period obligations. A dedicated holiday fund accumulated through regular contributions ensures you can meet penalty rate obligations and cover operational costs during reduced revenue periods without straining regular cash flow.

Review payment terms with suppliers and customers around holiday periods. Extended payment terms from suppliers can ease cash flow pressure, while tightening customer credit terms before holidays reduces the risk of unpaid invoices during cash-tight periods.

Consider whether holiday trading actually improves your financial position. In some cases, the combination of penalty rates, reduced customer traffic, and operational costs means closure is more profitable than trading. Analyse your specific circumstances rather than assuming opening is always better.

Customer Communication and Marketing

Clear communication about holiday operations builds customer trust and manages expectations. Inadequate communication leads to frustrated customers who arrive to find you closed or operating different hours than expected.

Update all customer-facing channels with holiday operating information well in advance. This includes your website, Google Business Profile, social media accounts, voicemail messages, and physical signage. Consistency across channels prevents confusion.

Consider how holidays create marketing opportunities relevant to your business. Pre-holiday promotions, holiday-themed products or services, and gift-giving occasions can drive additional revenue. Plan marketing campaigns to capitalise on holiday-related customer behaviour.

For service businesses, communicate response times during holiday periods. If enquiries won't receive responses until after holidays, automated replies should set clear expectations. Customers accept delays when they understand the reason.

Post-holiday communications help re-engage customers after breaks. "We're back" announcements, new year promotions, or simply regular content resumption signals that normal service has resumed. Don't assume customers will automatically return without prompting.

Compliance and Record Keeping

Proper documentation of holiday arrangements protects your business from disputes and demonstrates compliance with workplace laws. Establish systems to capture and retain relevant records.

Document all decisions about holiday trading, including the business reasoning and how the decision was communicated to staff. If disputes arise later about work requirements or pay, contemporaneous records provide essential evidence.

Maintain accurate time and attendance records showing who worked on public holidays and for how long. These records should clearly identify public holiday hours separately from regular hours to ensure correct penalty rate calculations.

Keep copies of rosters, staff requests for holiday time off, and your responses. If employees later claim they were unreasonably required to work or unfairly denied leave, documented processes demonstrate fair treatment.

Retain payroll records showing correct holiday pay calculations. The Fair Work Ombudsman can audit businesses for compliance, and accurate records demonstrate good faith even if inadvertent errors occurred. Records must be kept for seven years under workplace laws.

Review your compliance annually, ideally with professional advice. Workplace laws change, and incorrect practices can continue for years before detection. Annual reviews catch issues before they compound into significant underpayments.