Public holiday trading: does opening pay, and how do you fund the wages?

Long weekends are a paradox for hospitality and retail. For a beachside café, a holiday-town restaurant or a bottle shop before a big sporting final, a public holiday can be one of the best trading days of the year. For a CBD café whose customers are all at home, it can be a day of paying premium wages to watch the door. Deciding whether to open, and how to fund the roster, is a straightforward calculation once you know your numbers.

Why public holidays cost more to staff

Most hospitality and retail employees are covered by an award. The Fair Work Ombudsman lists the Restaurant Industry Award for cafés and restaurants mainly serving food to be eaten on the premises, the Fast Food Industry Award for mainly take-away businesses, the Hospitality Industry (General) Award for venues such as wine bars and taverns, and the General Retail Industry Award for most shops. Each sets how employees are paid on public holidays, which is generally at higher rates than ordinary hours.

We don’t quote specific rates here because they differ between awards, classifications and employment types, and they change over time. Use the Fair Work Ombudsman’s pay and conditions tools for your award to get the right figures. Public holidays also vary by state and territory, so check the Fair Work Ombudsman’s list for where you trade.

Should you open? A simple test

For each public holiday, estimate:

1. Expected takings, based on the same day last year or similar days.
2. Cost of goods, such as food, drink or stock, as a percentage of those takings.
3. Full roster cost, at public holiday rates, including super.
4. Other extra costs, such as higher delivery charges or overtime for cleaning.

If takings minus cost of goods comfortably exceeds the roster and extra costs, opening makes sense. If it’s close, consider shorter hours, a reduced menu or a smaller team. If it’s clearly negative, closing may be the better business decision, though you’ll want to think about whether regulars will try a competitor that day.

Scenario	Typical outcome
Holiday-town café, sunny long weekend	Often strong enough to justify full opening
CBD café, office crowd away	Often better closed or on short hours
Restaurant with bookings and a set menu	Can work well with a surcharge and set pricing
Bottle shop before a major event	Often busy; staffing is the constraint
Suburban shop	Varies; compare with past holidays

Surcharges: be clear and upfront

Many cafés and restaurants add a public holiday surcharge to help cover higher wages. If you do, show it clearly to customers before they order, on menus, signage and any online ordering, so there are no surprises at the counter. A clearly explained surcharge rarely upsets customers; a surprise one at the till often does.

Funding the wage weeks

Public holidays often cluster: Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day within a week or so; Good Friday and Easter Monday a few days apart. Those weeks bring heavier payrolls, and since 1 July 2026, Payday Super means super leaves with each pay run rather than quarterly. See our page on Payday Super cash flow for how that works.

If a heavy wage week lands before the takings from it arrive, or during a quieter period for your business, a line of credit can smooth it. Unsecured, cash-flow and line-of-credit options for trading businesses typically run from $5,000 to $500,000, sized on turnover and bank statements. You can check what your venue could access with no credit check.

An illustrative example

Illustrative only. A seaside café trades very strongly over the Easter long weekend but is normally quiet in April. The owner compares last year’s Easter takings with the cost of a full roster at public holiday rates, including super, and decides to open with extended hours, a slightly simplified menu and a clearly displayed surcharge. A line of credit covers the heavier payroll that week and is repaid within a fortnight from the weekend’s takings.

Planning the year’s public holidays

At the start of each year, list every public holiday in your state and mark which ones you’ll open, close or trade short. Add them to your seasonal trade planner as busier or quieter weeks. Review after each one: what you took, what the roster cost and what you’d do differently. Over a couple of years, you’ll have your own data to decide with, rather than guesswork. For how public holidays fit into the December rush, see Christmas trading cash flow, and for pricing that holds up on expensive days, our menu costing guide.

Roster tips for public holidays

• Ask for volunteers early; some staff value the extra pay.
• Use your most experienced team members so a smaller crew can handle the trade.
• Simplify the menu to speed up service and reduce waste.
• Consider shorter opening hours focused on your peak times.

Plan the cash for your long weekends

If public holiday wage weeks put pressure on your account, a short enquiry is a good place to start. It takes about 60 seconds and there’s no credit check when you first enquire. We don’t circulate your details to a line of lenders; a real person who understands venue and shop trading looks at your situation and calls you with options that fit. Please answer the form accurately so we can match you properly first time.

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