Myanmar Public Holidays 2026 — Full List with Payroll Impact for HR

Complete list — Myanmar public holidays 2026

The following list is compiled from published holiday announcements for Myanmar 2026.

Italic or lunar-dependent holidays (Tabaung, Kason, Waso, Thadingyut, Tazaungmone) can shift by one day based on the traditional calendar committee's announcement. Re-confirm dates against the official gazette each year.

Why some holidays last multiple days

Several Myanmar holidays are multi-day cultural observances:

• Thingyan (Water Festival) — the longest holiday period, covering the pre-new-year water festival and the new year itself. In practice, most businesses close for 10 consecutive days counting weekends.
• Thadingyut — the festival of lights marking the end of Buddhist Lent. Usually 3 gazetted days plus cultural bridging.
• Tazaungmone — the light festival in November, typically 2 gazetted days.

Government offices and most businesses treat these as block closures. Factories on 24×7 shifts should build pay differentials into the shift roster for required workers.

What gazetted holidays mean for payroll

Under the Leave and Holidays Act 1951, every employee is entitled to paid public holidays as announced in the Myanmar Gazette.

If the employee does NOT work on a gazetted holiday

They receive their normal day's pay. No deduction, no premium. Treat the day as paid rest.

If the employee IS required to work on a gazetted holiday

They receive 2× ordinary hourly rate for the hours worked, in addition to their normal holiday wage.

Shift workers and 24×7 operations

Factories running continuous shifts should bake holiday premiums into the shift roster so on-duty workers are paid correctly. Over-reliance on "we'll sort it out next pay run" creates disputes.

Holidays that fall on weekends

When a gazetted holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday:

• Most Myanmar employers observe the next working Monday as a bridge day — but this is practice, not a uniform statutory rule.
• Factories on a Sunday-as-rest-day schedule may gain nothing if the holiday already coincides with rest day.
• Confirm your company's policy in your Employee Handbook so expectations are set.

Practical guidance: Publish your 2026 company holiday calendar by early January 2026 so employees can plan annual leave around it.

3 scheduling traps that cost Myanmar HR teams in 2025

1. Missing the Cabinet Office's "in lieu" notifications. When a holiday falls on a Sunday, the government often declares the following Monday as the observed day. Missing this means your payroll either under-pays (if you treat Sunday as the holiday and Monday as normal) or mis-pays (if you treat both as holiday).
2. Assuming the Thingyan closure dates are identical each year. The exact dates of Thingyan Water Festival and the Burmese New Year shift slightly year to year. Always pull the fresh gazette list in January.
3. Forgetting ethnic / religious observances for specific workforces. If your workforce includes significant Chinese, Muslim, Hindu, or Christian populations, verify that the corresponding holidays (Chinese New Year, Eid, Deepavali, Christmas) are paid — all of these are gazetted in Myanmar.

Building the 2026 shift and leave calendar

Here is a 5-minute checklist to get your 2026 calendar payroll-ready:

1. Import the gazette list into your HRIS as "company holidays" (QHRM does this automatically — see below).
2. Map each holiday to your operational calendar (office, factory, retail). Flag which departments will require on-call coverage.
3. Build shift premiums for any department that will operate on gazetted holidays.
4. Pre-approve annual leave windows around Thingyan (typically 10 days of heavy annual-leave demand) and Thadingyut.
5. Publish to all employees via an internal announcement or app notification before the end of January 2026.

How QHRM handles the 2026 holiday calendar

The 2026 Myanmar gazette holidays are pre-loaded in QHRM at launch. What this means for you:

• Every employee's leave balance automatically accounts for gazetted holidays — no manual entry.
• Shift rosters automatically flag gazetted holidays so you don't schedule normal wages on a 2× day.
• Payroll runs apply the correct multiplier to any hours worked on a gazetted holiday.
• Employee self-service portal shows each month's gazette holidays in English and Burmese.

See the 2026 calendar already loaded in QHRM: book a 20-minute demo and bring one of your 2026 shift rosters — we'll show you how to annotate the entire year in under 5 minutes.

Frequently asked questions

Q: How many total paid public holidays will a Myanmar employee receive in 2026? Approximately 32 gazetted days, though the effective number per employee depends on shift pattern, overlap with weekly rest days, and any in-lieu declarations by the Cabinet Office.

Q: What happens if an employee is on annual leave when a gazetted holiday falls? The gazetted holiday day is NOT deducted from their annual leave. Annual leave is paid out in addition to the holiday.

Q: Are foreign employees entitled to Myanmar public holidays? Yes — all workers employed in Myanmar under local contracts are entitled to gazetted public holidays, regardless of nationality.

Q: Can we ask employees to work on a public holiday without consent? In most sectors, no — public-holiday work requires the employee's consent (express or per Standing Order) unless the role is exempt (e.g. essential services). Always pay the correct multiplier.

Q: Do we have to close the office on every gazetted holiday? No — but any employee required to work receives the statutory premium pay.

Next steps

Sources

• Office Holidays — Myanmar 2026officeholidays.com
• Myanmar Transparency News — Public Holidays for 2026 Announcedmtnewstoday.com
• Time and Date — Holidays in Myanmar 2026timeanddate.com
• Leave and Holidays Act 1951 (summary)ilo.org