# Public holidays and mandatory days

Add the public holidays that nobody works and that no balance pays for, add the mandatory days on which employees cannot take time off, and see both on the dashboard.

Two kinds of days belong to the whole company rather than to one person. A public holiday is a day nobody works: requests that cover it do not use it. A mandatory day is the opposite, a day everyone must be present: employees cannot book time off on it.

## Before you start {#before-you-start}

You need the **Administrator** access right on **Time Off**.

## Add a public holiday {#public-holiday}

1. Open **Time Off/Configuration/Public Holidays**. The list shows the current year; remove the **Period** filter to see the others.
2. Click **New**. A line opens in the list.
3. Type the **Name**, here `Time off demo: Year-end closure`, then the **Start Date** and **End Date** with their times: 31/12/2026 from 00:00 to 23:59.
4. In **Working Hours**, choose the schedule it applies to, or leave **All Schedules** for every schedule of the company.
5. Click **Save**.

![A public holiday on 31 December 2026 for the employees of the Standard 40 hours/week schedule.](https://jaah.app/web/image/14537-9d9ace17/time-off-public-holidays-and-mandatory-days-public_holiday-en.png)

The holiday is not a request: nobody approves it. As soon as it is saved, every request that covers the day is counted again. The day is given back to the employee's balance, or, when the change takes more days than the allocation holds, the request is refused. Each employee concerned receives a message.

The times you type are read in your own time zone. When you choose a **Working Hours**, they are read in the time zone of that schedule instead, so the list may then show them shifted into yours: the demo user, two hours ahead of the schedule, sees 02:00 to 01:59 the next day. Two public holidays cannot overlap for the same working hours.

## Add a mandatory day {#mandatory-day}

1. Open **Time Off/Configuration/Mandatory Days** and click **New**.
2. Type the name, here `Time off demo: Inventory day`, then the **Start Date** and **End Date**: 02/12/2026 for both.
3. Click **Save**.

![A mandatory day on 2 December 2026, next to the demo Company Celebration.](https://jaah.app/web/image/14541-f9db1b9c/time-off-public-holidays-and-mandatory-days-mandatory_day-en.png)

The columns **Departments** and **Job Position**, shown from the columns button at the right of the header, limit the day to some people; empty, it applies to everyone in the company. **Color** paints it on the calendars.

From then on, an employee without the officer right who asks for time off covering the day is refused with "You are not allowed to request time off on a Mandatory Day". Officers can still book it, for an exception.

## See them on the dashboard {#dashboard}

Open **Time Off/My Time/Dashboard**. Beside the calendar, **Mandatory Days** and **Public Holidays** list the days of the year, and the calendar marks them.

![The dashboard lists the mandatory days and the public holidays of the year beside the calendar.](https://jaah.app/web/image/14545-ea9c387e/time-off-public-holidays-and-mandatory-days-dashboard_days-en.png)

## FAQ {#faq}

### Why does a public holiday show on the day before? {#day-before}

Your time zone differs from the employees' working schedule. Choose the schedule in **Working Hours**, or type the times as they fall in your own time zone.

### Does a public holiday reduce the balance? {#balance}

No, except for the types with **Ignore Public Holidays**, which count the public holidays inside a request: [Configure time off types](configure-time-off-types#configuration).

### Do public holidays repeat every year? {#repeat}

No. Add each year's holidays; the list keeps the past years.

### Can a mandatory day apply to one department only? {#department}

Yes: show the **Departments** column and name the departments. Its sub-departments are covered too.

---

- Source: https://jaah.app/docs/time-off/public-holidays-and-mandatory-days
- Updated: 2026-10-28
- Version: Time Off 19.0.1.6
- Verified: 2026-10-28