Public holidays in Costa Rica, and their pay

Three things decide the payment: whether the holiday is compulsorily paid or not, whether the person worked that day, and whether they are paid monthly or fortnightly — or weekly in retail — as against weekly in a non-retail activity. Everything else is detail.

12Public holidays a year

3Not compulsorily paid

DoubleIf the holiday is worked

The twelve holidays

Date	Occasion	Payment
1 January	New Year's Day	Compulsory
11 April	Juan Santamaría Day	Compulsory
Maundy Thursday	Holy Week	Compulsory
Good Friday	Holy Week	Compulsory
1 May	Labour Day	Compulsory
25 July	Annexation of Nicoya	Compulsory
2 August	Our Lady of the Angels	Not compulsory
15 August	Mother's Day	Compulsory
31 August	Black Person and Afro-Costa Rican Culture Day	Not compulsory
15 September	Independence Day	Compulsory
1 December	Abolition of the Army	Not compulsory
25 December	Christmas Day	Compulsory

12 October is no longer a public holiday. Law 9803, of July 2020, removed it and created 1 December, Abolition of the Army Day, in its place, as a holiday that is not compulsorily paid. It still turns up in lists, booklets and payroll manuals. If your system has it ticked, you are overpaying.

What “not compulsorily paid” means

It does not mean anyone can be made to work. It means that if the person does not work that day, under some pay arrangements it does not have to be paid. The right to rest is the same on all twelve.

How it is paid, case by case

The only division that matters is this one:

Group AMonthly or fortnightlyAnd retail, even paid weekly

Group BWeeklyIn a non-retail activity

Everything that follows depends on which of the two your payroll is in.

If the holiday is not worked

Group	Compulsory holiday	Non-compulsory holiday
A · monthly, fortnightly or retail	Paid	Paid
B · weekly, non-retail	Paid	Not paid

If the holiday is worked

Group	Compulsory holiday	Non-compulsory holiday
A · monthly, fortnightly or retail	Double: one single day's pay is added	Double: one single day's pay is added
B · weekly, non-retail	Double pay	Single pay

“Double” does not mean paying twice on top. In group A the day is already inside the month's salary: what you do is add one single day's pay to make it double. Adding two full days is the mistake that inflates a December payroll.

If the holiday falls on the weekly rest day

Group A: nothing is added. That arrangement already pays every day of the month, so the holiday is included.
Group B: since weekly pay does not include the rest day, a compulsory holiday falling there is paid single; a non-compulsory one is not paid.

If the shift is accumulated

When a Saturday is a compulsorily paid holiday and the shift is accumulated, one additional day of salary is added under every arrangement: that Saturday is treated as worked. What an accumulated shift is.

Overtime on a public holiday

Overtime on a public holiday is paid at time and a half on the doubled hour, not on the ordinary hour.

Complete the day's double pay

A ₡10,000 day plus another ₡10,000 → ₡20,000.
Work out the doubled hour

₡20,000 ÷ 8 hours = ₡2,500 an hour.
Apply time and a half

₡2,500 × 1.5 = ₡3,750 for each overtime hour.

In group B, if the holiday is not compulsorily paid, the calculation is done on the single hour, not the doubled one.

Are they moved to Mondays?

In 2026, no. Moving holidays to Mondays has existed in Costa Rica through temporary tourism-recovery laws. When no such law is in force, each holiday is taken on its own date, even at a weekend.

It is worth confirming each year before building the company calendar, because it changes by statute and not by custom.

Other religions

Someone practising a religion other than Catholicism may ask the employer for the days of observance of their own faith, and the employer is obliged to grant them. The make-up day is agreed between them, and may be taken from holiday. The qualifying days are those registered with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship.

From Ticuenta

Holidays inside the payroll calculation

Bring the month's detail and the entry balances, without redoing the arithmetic by hand.

See how it works

About this article. The holidays and their payment are in article 148 of the Labour Code; 12 October was removed and 1 December created by Law 9803, published in La Gaceta 159 of 2 July 2020. The payment rules by pay arrangement follow the Ministry of Labour's public holidays booklet. This is not employment law advice.

Verified as of 24 September 2026. Rules change. This is information, not legal or tax advice.

Sources: Labour Code Ministry of Labour

Public holidays in Costa Rica: which ones, and how they are paid