On 4 October 2019, terms allowing an employer to unilaterally substitute a public holiday or substitute a public holiday with agreement from the majority of their staff will be removed from awards that contain them.

Instead, employers and individual employees can agree to substitute another day (or part-day) for a public holiday.

Public holiday entitlements will apply to the substituted day for any employees that agree. For any employees that don’t agree to the substitution, the original public holiday will attract public holiday entitlements.

You can read the Fair Work Commission’s decision for more information.