How Colombian Public Holidays (festivos en Colombia) Affect Your Company in 2026

In Colombia, public holidays are part of the culture. For many workers, they are days for rest, family, or travel.

For business owners, however, public holidays are something very different: operational decisions, additional labor costs, and adjustments in business planning.

Common phrases like “tomorrow is a public holiday” or “Monday is a public holiday in Colombia” are often heard without much reflection.
But behind those phrases are labor rules that, if not properly understood, end up affecting profitability, payroll, and relationships with work teams.

This article does not aim to simply repeat the law. Its purpose is to explain how public holidays really work in Colombia, how they are paid, how they differ from Sundays, and why they are a critical issue for any company that operates—or plans to operate—in the country.

Colombia and public holidays: why they impact more than it seems

Colombia is one of the countries with the highest number of public holidays per year: 18 national holidays. Many of them are moved to Monday under the Emiliani Law, creating the well-known long weekends (“puentes”).

From a business perspective, this creates three clear impacts:

• Paid days that are not always worked

   

• High surcharges when they are worked

   

• Cost concentration during long weekends

   

In sectors with continuous operations—restaurants, retail, tourism, logistics, healthcare, BPOs—public holidays are not the exception, but part of daily operations. And that is where problems begin when they are not properly planned.

Not all public holidays are the same (and that matters)

In Colombia, there are different types of public holidays, and understanding them helps anticipate their impact.

Some holidays never move: January 1, May 1, July 20, December 25.
Others are moved to the following Monday. That is why it is so common to hear in offices: “Monday is a public holiday in Colombia.”

For companies, this means something very specific: the impact of the holiday is not spread throughout the week, but rather concentrated in long weekends, where there is usually more staff rotation, more hours worked, and more surcharges.

Public holiday and Sunday: not the same, but more similar than you think

This is one of the most frequent sources of confusion.

Sunday is the mandatory weekly rest day.
A public holiday is a mandatory rest day established by law, different from Sunday.

In labor practice, when these days are worked, the surcharge is applied progressively over the value of a regular working day:

• As of July 1, 2025: 80% surcharge

   

• As of July 1, 2026: 90% surcharge

   

• As of July 1, 2027: 100% surcharge

   

Both Sunday and public holiday work are paid based on the employee’s ordinary daily wage, plus the corresponding surcharge.

The difference is not so much in the payment itself, but in how shifts are organized, how frequently these days are worked, and whether compensatory rest applies.

That is why, from a cost perspective, many business owners group them mentally.
The real mistake is failing to document them properly.

How public holidays are actually paid in Colombia

This is where theory turns into cash flow, payroll, and margins.

When the employee does NOT work on the public holiday

• The public holiday is paid normally.

   

• It is not deducted from the salary.

   

• It is not “made up” by working another day.

   

• It is not deducted from the maximum legal working hours.

   

This often surprises many foreign business owners, since in other countries public holidays are paid only if they are worked.

In Colombia, it does not work that way: a public holiday is a paid mandatory rest day, even when the employee does not provide services.

When the employee DOES work on the public holiday

In this case, a surcharge does apply.

The employee is entitled to:

• Payment for the ordinary working day, and

   

• An additional surcharge for working on a public holiday, calculated over the normal daily wage.

   

This surcharge is applied progressively as follows:

• As of July 1, 2025: 80%

   

• As of July 1, 2026: 90%

   

• As of July 1, 2027: 100%

   

In simple terms, today a worked public holiday is paid at 175% of the ordinary daily wage.

If the public holiday work is also performed at night, the cost increases even further, because surcharges accumulate.

Additionally, as of December 25, 2025, the night work surcharge starts at 7:00 p.m., expanding the time period considered nighttime and, as a result, increasing labor costs for evening and night shifts.

The real impact of public holidays: it’s not one, it’s all of them together

A common mistake is to analyze public holidays one by one.
The real impact appears when you look at them as a whole.

For business owners, public holidays affect:

• The real monthly cost per employee

   

• The minimum price at which services or products can be sold

   

• The need for additional staff to cover shifts

   

• Team fatigue when rotation is poorly managed

   

Many businesses feel that “payroll keeps going up” without fully understanding why. When reviewed in detail, poorly budgeted public holidays are often part of the problem.

Public holidays and foreign companies entering Colombia

For companies establishing operations in Colombia, this issue is critical.

In many countries:

• There are fewer public holidays

   

• Not all holidays are paid

   

• Surcharges are lower or nonexistent

   

In Colombia:

• Public holidays are paid

   

• Working them implies high surcharges

   

• Labor enforcement is real

   

That is why, when structuring an operation in Colombia, public holidays must be included from the very beginning in:

• The financial model

   

• The shift structure

   

• The payroll budget

   

Failing to do so means starting operations with distorted cost assumptions.

What business owners should review today regarding public holidays

Beyond the legal text, it is worth asking:

• Do my contracts contemplate work on public holidays?

   

• Is my payroll paying these days correctly?

   

• Do I clearly understand when public holiday work is considered habitual?

   

• Are surcharges being calculated correctly?

   

• Am I budgeting for public holidays, or simply reacting to them?

   

In practice, many labor disputes arise because the employee did work on a public holiday, but the payment was unclear, incomplete, or late.

Public holidays as part of strategy, not a surprise

We are approaching year-end, a natural time to review how business operations are performing.

Everyday phrases like “tomorrow is a public holiday” or “Monday is a public holiday in Colombia” may seem harmless, but when they accumulate throughout the year, they can turn into overcosts, payroll errors, or unnecessary friction with teams.

Year-end is also a period of adjustments:

• Shift reviews

   

• Payroll adjustments

   

• Changes in accounting or labor advisory services

   

Before starting 2026, it is worth reviewing how you are managing public holidays in Colombia and ensuring they are aligned with both the law and the financial reality of your business.

A timely review prevents problems later.