Our National Day is celebrated every year on 31 August and in 2022, 31 August falls on a Wednesday. As National Day is a statutory holiday, employers are required to give their employees a day off on 31 August. If employers require employees to work on that day they will need to pay due compensation.
Under Section 60D of the Labour Act 1955, all wage earners are entitled to 11 paid public holidays per year, of which 5 are statutory public holidays, namely National Day, the birthday of Agong, the birthday of the Sultan or State Head of State or Federal Territory Day, Labour Day and Malaysia Day.
National Day is a national public holiday and is also a statutory holiday. All government departments, schools, banks and other state-run institutions in Malaysia will have the day off on National Day. In private sector, employers are also required to give their employees leave or pay them their fair share under the Public Holidays Act.
The next national public holiday will be Malaysia Day on 16 September. This year, Malaysia Day falls on a Friday and with the addition of the weekend and Sunday, this will create a 3-day long weekend holiday.
