Singapore Public Holidays 2025: Everything You Need To Know

By Author: Adaptive Pay
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Do you manage HR in Singapore? Public holidays will inevitably disrupt your calendar, whether you're ready or not — they affect staffing and leave approvals, and every date has knock-on effects, especially when they fall near weekends or during peak business periods. Thankfully, you can always leave management solutions to stay on top of everything.

Dates to note

Here’s the full list of 2025 public holidays according to MOM:

• New Year’s Day – Wed, 1 Jan
• Chinese New Year – Wed–Thu, 29–30 Jan
• Hari Raya Puasa – Mon, 31 Mar
• Good Friday – Fri, 18 Apr
• Labour Day – Thu, 1 May
• Vesak Day – Mon, 12 May
• Hari Raya Haji – Sat, 7 Jun
• National Day – Sat, 9 Aug
• Deepavali – Mon, 20 Oct
• Christmas Day – Thu, 25 Dec

It’s a good idea to start locking in your leave blackout periods as early as possible. Leave management is especially vital if your team supports operations during long weekends or festive periods.

Public holiday pay: What you need to know

• If your employees fall under ...
... the Employment Act, they’re entitled to 11 paid public holidays. You can swap a holiday with another day if both parties agree.

• If someone works on a holiday, you must pay one extra day’s salary at their basic rate on top of the day’s wages.

• For higher-earning workmen, non-workmen, and all managers or executives, you can agree to time-off-in-lieu instead — but make sure that the agreement is clear and documented.

Leave management around long weekends.

Public holidays that brush up against weekends often lead to a flood of leave requests. You’ll need to plan ahead to keep your business covered without burning out your team.

Start flagging those leave clusters now — like Chinese New Year (Wednesday–Thursday), Vesak Day (Monday), and Christmas (Thursday) — to balance workloads and avoid last-minute scrambles.

And if you’re in retail, hospitality, or logistics, expect spikes during holiday periods. High footfall and increased demand mean you can’t afford to be short-staffed. You’ll need to get shift approvals in place weeks in advance and communicate expectations clearly across departments.

Your employees can check availability and apply for time off without endless email chains. While your managers can approve or decline leave based on actual coverage.

Take control before the calendar does

Stop juggling spreadsheets and chasing approvals over email. A good leave management system like Adaptive Pay can auto-sync with public holiday dates, flag overlapping requests, and update leave balances in real time.

Your employees can check availability and apply for time off without endless email chains, while your managers can approve or decline leave based on actual coverage. Schedule a demo to see just how powerful it is.

Adaptive Pay is a groundbreaking cloud-based HRMS and payroll software that simplifies and automates HR and payroll management for Singapore businesses. The software adheres completely to Singapore's employment laws and regulations, rendering it a highly suitable option for local businesses. A notable characteristic of Adaptive Pay is its user-friendly interface. The implementation of advanced security measures by Adaptive Pay guarantees the confidentiality and security of sensitive employee data.