Correct handling of the upcoming public holidays: August
ECIJA Costa Rica Editorial Team.
August 2026 includes three public holidays set out in Article 148 of the Costa Rican Labour Code:
Sunday 2 August 2026: non-mandatory paid public holiday (Feast of Our Lady of the Angels).
Saturday 15 August 2026: mandatory paid public holiday (Mother’s Day).
Monday 31 August 2026: non-mandatory paid public holiday (Afro-Costa Rican Culture Day).
Consequently, employees whose normal working week is Monday to Friday will not be entitled to an additional day of compensatory rest or any other additional benefit (such as double pay) in respect of these public holidays, as both dates coincide with their usual weekly rest days.
As 31 August (a non-mandatory paid public holiday) falls on a Monday, those working a standard Monday to Friday week will be entitled to a day off, and this will be the first time this public holiday has fallen on a weekday.
Must the employer reschedule the public holiday or pay double if it falls on the employee’s day off?
When a public holiday coincides with a weekly rest day or a non-working day for the employee, the Costa Rican Labour Code does not require the employer to reschedule the public holiday to another day or to pay double for it.
Article 152 of the Labour Code stipulates that every employee is entitled to a full day off after each week or after every six days of continuous work, and that an employer who fails to grant such a day off is obliged to pay double the employee’s wage for that day. However, this obligation to pay double applies only when the employer fails to grant the compulsory weekly rest day, not when a public holiday simply coincides with a rest day that has already been granted.
In other words: if Saturday or Sunday are rest days for the worker and a public holiday falls on one of those days, the employer complies with the regulations simply by having granted the weekly rest day. There is no additional obligation to compensate for, reschedule or pay double for that public holiday.
Therefore, for the month of August 2026, employers whose staff work standard hours from Monday to Friday are not obliged to grant a compensatory day off or to make any additional payment for the public holidays on 2 and 15 August, as these dates coincide with the weekend. The rationale is that (i) the Labour Code does not provide for a mechanism to reschedule public holidays for 2026 and (ii) the double pay provided for in Article 152 only applies when a worker is deprived of their weekly rest day, a situation which does not arise when the public holiday falls on a day on which work is not normally carried out.
However, in cases where Saturday or Sunday are working days for employees, they will benefit from not having to work on those days. If they do not take the public holiday and, exceptionally, work on that day at their employer’s request, they are entitled to the remuneration set out in Article 152 of the Labour Code (double pay).
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