written by As 2025 is coming to an end, most employees are already making plans for vacations and time off for the coming year. The year 2026 brings 17 legal public holidays for employees, the same number as in the previous year.
Out of these, 5 holidays fall on weekends and 12 fall on weekdays.
Below is the full list of public holidays in 2026, according to the Romanian Labour Code:
- January 1–2 (Thursday–Friday) – New Year’s Day
- January 6 (Tuesday) – Epiphany
- January 7 (Wednesday) – Saint John the Baptist
- January 24 (Saturday) – Union of the Romanian Principalities Day
- April 10–13 (Friday–Monday) – Orthodox Easter 2026
- May 1 (Friday) – Labour Day
- May 31 (Sunday) – Pentecost
- June 1 (Monday) – Second Day of Pentecost and Children’s Day
- August 15 (Saturday) – Dormition of the Theotokos
- November 30 (Monday) – Saint Andrew’s Day
- December 1 (Tuesday) – Romania’s National Day
- December 25–26 (Friday–Saturday) – Christmas
January: the Month with the Fewest Working Days
The year 2026 starts off very well in terms of public holidays for employees. January 1 and 2 (Thursday and Friday) are non-working days, followed by the weekend, and then additional days off on January 6 and 7 (Tuesday and Wednesday).
January 24, the Union of the Romanian Principalities Day, is also a public holiday, but unfortunately for companies with a standard Monday–Friday schedule, it falls on a Saturday.
When Is Easter Celebrated in 2026?
In 2026, Orthodox Easter will be celebrated on April 12, just one week after Catholic Easter, which falls on April 5. From April 10 (Good Friday) through April 13 (Easter Monday), employees can enjoy a mini-vacation.
The Number 1 Brings Good Luck
The date 1 is particularly favorable in 2026 when it comes to public holidays. May, June, and December all have public holidays that fall on weekdays.
In 2026, June 1 is celebrated both as the Second Day of Pentecost and Children’s Day.
Almost Six Months Without a Legal Public Holiday
The summer of 2026 does not bring any additional public holidays. July is the busiest month, with 23 working days.
In August, August 15 (Saint Mary’s Day) falls on a Saturday, meaning there will be no extended weekend during the summer.
September and October do not include any legal public holidays. In November, the only public holiday is Saint Andrew’s Day on November 30, which falls on a Monday and is immediately followed by December 1, Romania’s National Day.
Christmas in 2026
During the Christmas period, employees will benefit from only one weekday off: Friday, December 25. The second day of Christmas falls on Saturday, so the next legal public holidays will only come on January 1, 2027.
Exceptions
Romanian legislation does not treat public holidays as a rigid set applicable to all employees—there are important exceptions.
Employees belonging to recognized religious denominations other than Christianity (such as Islam, Judaism, etc.) are entitled to two paid days off for each of their three major religious holidays.
In sectors where activity cannot be interrupted (healthcare, food services, continuous production, etc.), public holidays may be compensated either through time off at a later date or through additional pay. Furthermore, collective or individual employment contracts may include additional days off beyond those required by law.
Why These Public Holidays Matter
For employees, public holidays simply mean extra time off. For HR professionals, however, they are much more than that. Legal public holidays directly impact time tracking, salaries, workforce planning, budgets, and legal compliance.
1. Legal Compliance (Avoiding Penalties)
If an employer fails to properly grant or compensate work performed on legal public holidays, this can lead to:
- labour inspectorate fines,
- employment disputes,
- additional costs incurred later.
This is why HR teams must know exactly when public holidays occur and which employees they apply to.
2. Impact on Time Tracking
Public holidays are recorded in time tracking systems using a specific code (usually “L” or an internal equivalent).
They affect timesheets because:
- no working hours are recorded,
- no vacation days are deducted,
- they must be clearly marked for payroll calculations.
They influence:
- the number of working hours per month,
- overtime verification,
- managerial reporting.
3. Impact on Payroll
Legal public holidays directly affect salary calculations because:
- they are paid as regular working days,
- they reduce the number of working hours in a month, which affects the hourly rate for employees with fixed salaries.
If an employee works on a public holiday, compensation must be provided as follows:
Option 1 – Public holiday pay supplement
- minimum 100% bonus (double pay),
- recorded as work on a non-working day.
Option 2 – Compensatory time off
- granted within the next 30 days.
4. Workforce Planning (Operational Impact)
HR teams and managers must adjust:
- work shifts,
- schedules,
- operational coverage.
In industries such as retail, logistics, or manufacturing, public holidays can create staffing peaks—periods when companies need more employees than usual to maintain operations.
5. Impact on Benefits & HR Administration
Public holidays affect:
- vacation planning,
- meal voucher eligibility (vouchers are granted only for days worked),
- calculation of attendance-based bonuses or incentives.
6. Internal and External Reporting
Public holidays appear in:
- HR attendance reports,
- personnel cost reports,
- accounting and payroll reports.
How Smartree Can Help
Smartree takes all these details into account through its HR modules and can support both HR administration and payroll, time tracking, and workforce planning.
We are Smartree, a trusted partner in payroll outsourcing and personnel administration, with 25 years of experience in the Romanian HR market. We deliver innovative, strategic, and automated solutions for today’s HR challenges.
Beyond the expertise of our payroll, HR, and labour law specialists—and beyond our continuously evolving MyStaff platform—our promise remains the same: to support you with responsibility and professionalism.
Contact us for a discussion!
