Sri Lanka observes 26 public and bank holidays in 2026, including 13 Poya (full moon) days — one more than usual because of a rare double full moon in the same lunar cycle. For employers, this calendar isn’t just a list of days off. It determines payroll cut-offs, project deadlines, and — because Sri Lanka runs three overlapping holiday classifications — which of your employees are actually entitled to which days. This guide lays out the full 2026 calendar and what it means for you as an employer.
Note on lunar dates: Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, and Milad-un-Nabi follow the Hijri calendar and are confirmed only after the moon is officially sighted, so they can shift by a day. Always verify against the latest Government Gazette notice close to the date. This guide reflects the calendar as gazetted (Gazette No. 2404/22 of 27 May 2025) and the Commissioner of Labour’s mercantile holiday confirmation.
The 2026 Holiday Calendar
Below, P = Public Holiday, B = Bank Holiday, M = Mercantile Holiday. All Mercantile holidays are also Public and Bank holidays; not all Public holidays are Mercantile holidays.
January
- Jan 3 (Sat) — Duruthu Full Moon Poya Day — P, B
- Jan 15 (Thu) — Tamil Thai Pongal Day — P, B, M
February
- Feb 1 (Sun) — Navam Full Moon Poya Day — P, B
- Feb 4 (Wed) — Independence Day — P, B, M
- Feb 15 (Sun) — Maha Shivaratri Day — P, B
March
- Mar 2 (Mon) — Medin Full Moon Poya Day — P, B
- Mar 21 (Sat) — Eid-ul-Fitr* — P, B
April
- Apr 1 (Wed) — Bak Full Moon Poya Day — P, B
- Apr 3 (Fri) — Good Friday — P, B
- Apr 13 (Mon) — Day Before Sinhala & Tamil New Year — P, B, M
- Apr 14 (Tue) — Sinhala & Tamil New Year Day — P, B, M
May
- May 1 (Fri) — Adhi Vesak Full Moon Poya Day and International Labour Day — P, B, M
- May 2 (Sat, mercantile sector) / May 31 (Sun, general public holiday) — Day Following Vesak Full Moon Poya Day — P, B, M (the mercantile-sector observance date was separately confirmed by the Commissioner of Labour; verify the applicable date with your payroll provider)
- May 28 (Thu) — Eid al-Adha* — P, B
- May 30 (Sat) — Vesak Full Moon Poya Day — P, B
June
- Jun 29 (Mon) — Poson Full Moon Poya Day — P, B
July
- Jul 29 (Wed) — Esala Full Moon Poya Day — P, B
August
- Aug 26 (Wed)* — Milad-un-Nabi (Birth of Prophet Muhammad) — P, B, M
- Aug 27 (Thu) — Nikini Full Moon Poya Day — P, B
September
- Sep 26 (Sat) — Binara Full Moon Poya Day — P, B
October
- Oct 25 (Sun) — Vap Full Moon Poya Day — P, B
November
- Nov 8 (Sun) — Deepavali — P, B
- Nov 24 (Tue) — Il Full Moon Poya Day — P, B
December
- Dec 23 (Wed) — Unduvap Full Moon Poya Day — P, B
- Dec 25 (Fri) — Christmas Day — P, B, M
*Dates marked with an asterisk follow the lunar Hijri calendar and are provisional until confirmed by moon sighting.
Poya Days Explained
Every full moon day in Sri Lanka is a Poya Day — a public holiday tied to the Buddhist lunar calendar. This is the detail most foreign employers miss, because Poya days aren’t a fixed monthly date; they shift with the lunar cycle, and 2026 has 13 of them instead of the usual 12, due to a special “Adhi” Poya falling on 1 May alongside Vesak later moving to 30 May.
Poya days apply as paid holidays to all employees, not just those covered by mercantile sector rules. On Poya days, the sale of alcohol and meat is restricted nationwide, and many businesses close entirely or run reduced hours, even where the day isn’t legally mandatory for their sector. For payroll and leave planning, treat every Poya date in the calendar above as a full non-working day by default.
Public vs Bank vs Mercantile Holidays
Sri Lanka runs three overlapping but legally distinct holiday classifications, and knowing which applies to your business matters for compliance:
Public Holidays are declared under the Holidays Act No. 29 of 1971 and apply broadly across government offices, schools, and most sectors. This is the largest list — 26 days in 2026, including every Poya day.
Bank Holidays cover licensed commercial banks and are aligned with the Public Holiday list. All Public Holidays are also observed as Bank Holidays.
Mercantile Holidays are the narrower list that applies specifically to shops, offices, and private commercial establishments under the Shop and Office Employees Act. For 2026, the Commissioner General of Labour has confirmed eight mercantile holidays: Tamil Thai Pongal Day, Independence Day, the two Sinhala and Tamil New Year days, International Labour Day, the day following Vesak Full Moon Poya Day, Milad-un-Nabi, and Christmas Day.
The relationship runs one direction only: all Mercantile Holidays are also Public and Bank Holidays, but not all Public Holidays are Mercantile Holidays. Poya days, Good Friday, Deepavali, Maha Shivaratri, and the Islamic festival days sit on the Public Holiday calendar but fall outside the mercantile sector’s specific eight-day statutory list — though many private employers extend some of these as company policy regardless of the legal minimum.
Employer Obligations
Sri Lankan labour law treats mercantile statutory holidays and Poya days differently when it comes to pay.
If an employee is required to work on one of the eight mercantile statutory holidays, the employer must either pay no less than double the employee’s ordinary daily wage for that day, or grant the employee an alternative full-paid holiday on or before 31 December of the same year. This is the employer’s choice to make, not the employee’s, but it must be one or the other — working the holiday for standard pay with no compensation is not compliant.
If an employee is required to work on a Full Moon Poya Day, the employer must pay no less than one and a half times the ordinary daily wage for that day. Poya days don’t carry the same “grant a lieu day instead” provision in the underlying legislation — the premium pay requirement applies directly.
In practice, many Sri Lankan employers default to granting lieu leave for statutory holiday work rather than paying the cash premium, since it’s simpler to administer and keeps take-home pay predictable across the team. Whichever approach you choose, document it consistently in your employment contracts and leave policy so there’s no ambiguity about which employees are entitled to which treatment.
Planning Around the Calendar
For companies managing project timelines or payroll cut-offs in Sri Lanka, this calendar has real operational consequences. April and May alone carry eight holidays between the Sinhala and Tamil New Year and the Vesak period — a stretch that can quietly consume one to two full working weeks if project plans don’t account for it. Payroll cycles that assume a standard number of working days per month will be thrown off in these periods unless the calendar is built into your payroll calculations from the start.
This is also where the EOR-vs-entity distinction from our earlier guide becomes practical rather than theoretical. An EOR partner managing Sri Lankan payroll should already have this calendar, the mercantile/Poya pay rules, and the lieu-leave logic built into their systems — so you’re not the one tracking which of your employees are entitled to which holiday, and at what pay rate, every time the gazette is amended.
FAQ
How many public holidays does Sri Lanka have in 2026? 26 public and bank holidays, including 13 Poya (full moon) days — one more than the usual 12 due to a special Adhi Poya falling alongside the Sinhala and Tamil New Year period.
Are all public holidays paid holidays for private sector employees? Not automatically at the same premium rate. The eight mercantile statutory holidays carry a double-pay-or-lieu-day requirement if worked. Poya days carry a separate 1.5x pay requirement if worked. Other public holidays outside these two categories are commonly observed by private employers as a matter of policy, but the statutory premium pay obligations specifically attach to the mercantile and Poya categories.
What happens if I need staff to work on a mercantile holiday? The employer must either pay at least double the ordinary daily wage for that day, or grant an alternative full-paid holiday before 31 December of the same year. Many employers choose to grant lieu leave rather than the cash premium, but the choice must be made — working the day as a normal paid day is not compliant.
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