On this independence day, for the first time since the adoption of the Employment Law, the employees around the country will be paid 2 days salary to work on a “public holiday”. There are ten days which are designated as public holidays in the employment act.

If employees are required to work on a public holiday, the employer must pay the employees a half days salary. And on public holidays the staff must be compensated for overtime to the equivalent of one and a half of the hourly rate. Therefore, a staff who is required to work the full shift on a public holiday will get two days salary in addition to the day’s wages.

Therefore, resort workers and other staff such as prayer-callers (mudhims) who are required to work the full shift on all the ten public holidays will get an additional twenty days wages for the year.

But I am not quite sure how many employers would follow the law.