Importing and managing public holidays

Importing and managing public holidays

Public holidays serve two important functions in Shiftdesk: by default they block scheduling (in line with ArbZG § 9, rest on Sundays and public holidays) and they activate public holiday surcharges via the rate cards.

Importing statutory public holidays

1. Go to Settings → Public holidays.
2. Select the Location you want to import for.
3. Click Import public holidays.
4. Choose the year (e.g. 2026) and confirm.

Shiftdesk automatically imports all statutory public holidays of the country and state stored in the location. Bavaria therefore receives Assumption Day, and Berlin receives International Women's Day.

Adding public holidays manually

For company-specific non-working days (e.g. company holidays, bridge days, company parties), you create entries manually:

1. Click Add public holiday.
2. Enter a name (e.g. "Summer company holidays").
3. Choose the date or a date range.
4. Set the type:

- Statutory → blocks shift, triggers surcharge - Company day off → blocks shift, no surcharge - Note → information only, no effect

Effects on the schedule

Marked public holidays appear highlighted in color in the weekly plan. When you create a shift, Shiftdesk warns you if the day is a public holiday. You can still create the shift if your operation is exempt from public holiday restrictions (hospitality, care, etc.).

Effects on surcharges

If a public holiday surcharge (e.g. 100%) is stored in the employee's rate card, it is automatically calculated on all hours worked on statutory public holidays. More on this in the article "Configuring rate cards".

Multiple locations

Each location has its own public holiday list — you need to trigger the import once per year per location. Tip: Remind yourself in early December to import the following year.