Updated: September 2026. Every date and rule on this page comes from the official source cited beside it, checked on September 30, 2026.
Labour Day is a public holiday that celebrates working people and the rights the labor movement won for them, including the eight-hour working day. Most of the countries in our table mark it on May 1, which is also International Workers' Day. The United States and Canada hold it on the first Monday in September, Australia and New Zealand keep dates of their own, and Japan marks a related Labor Thanksgiving Day in November.
The name changes with the country. The United States, the Philippines, and China's State Council write Labor Day. Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the three Australian states in our table use Labour Day as the official name. Indonesia and Vietnam call May 1 International Labor Day in their own languages, and Malaysia calls it Hari Pekerja, or Workers' Day. The United Kingdom has no holiday called Labour Day. Its nearest equivalent is the early May bank holiday.
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This page covers where the holiday comes from, when each country marks it, and what an employer owes someone who works on it. Two tables sum it up: Labour Day dates for 2026 in 14 countries and territories, and the statutory rules for working on it in eight of them.
In the 1880s, the labor movement in the United States was pushing for better working conditions, including an eight-hour workday. On May 1, 1886, labor groups called a general strike with an emphasis on the eight-hour day, and workers struck in a number of cities, Chicago among them.
Three days later, on May 4, 1886, a bomb exploded at a Chicago labor rally near Haymarket Square. In the blast and the exchange of gunfire that followed, seven police officers and several civilians were killed. The Library of Congress notes that Haymarket has generally been considered important to the creation of International Workers' Day, held on May 1. Sources: the Library of Congress guides to the Haymarket Square riot and the Haymarket affair.
Today, May 1 is Labour Day in 8 of the 14 countries and territories in our table: France, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
The United States already had a Labor Day before Haymarket. According to the US Department of Labor, the first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, following plans made by the Central Labor Union. Oregon was the first state to pass a law recognizing it, on February 21, 1887. On June 28, 1894, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday.
The department says credit for proposing the day is disputed between two men: Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, and Matthew Maguire, a machinist who later became secretary of a machinists' union local in Paterson, New Jersey. It adds that recent research seems to support the view that Maguire proposed the holiday in 1882, while secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York.
Canada's Labour Day falls on the same Monday. Canada's Interpretation Act designates the first Monday in September as Labour Day, and it is one of the 10 paid general holidays for employees of federally regulated employers.
New Zealand's Labour Day commemorates the struggle for an eight-hour working day. According to Wellington City Archives, the carpenter Samuel Parnell won an eight-hour day in Wellington in 1840, when he refused to work more than eight hours a day while building a store for George Hunter, Wellington's first mayor. A trades demonstration was held throughout the colony on October 28, 1890. The Labour Day Act of 1899 created a statutory public holiday, first celebrated in 1900, and since 1910 it has been held on the fourth Monday in October.
Australia has no single Labour Day. Each state and territory keeps its own list of public holidays. In 2026, Labour Day falls on Monday, March 2, in Western Australia; Monday, May 4, in Queensland; and Monday, October 5, in New South Wales. Queensland's rule is the first Monday in May.
Japan's closest equivalent is Labor Thanksgiving Day, Kinrō Kansha no Hi, on November 23, which is a Monday in 2026. Japan's Act on National Holidays gives its purpose as honoring labor, celebrating production, and giving one another thanks.
The United Kingdom has no public holiday called Labour Day. Its early May bank holiday, on Monday, May 4, in 2026, is the one closest to May 1.
The table runs in date order. Australia takes three rows, one for each state listed, so the table's 16 rows cover 14 countries and territories. It gives the name each government uses for the holiday and the status the holiday has in law. Where a date follows a fixed rule, such as the first Monday in September, the rule is in the section above.
| Country or territory | Name of the holiday | 2026 date | Status in law |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia: Western Australia | Labour Day | Monday, March 2 | State public holiday |
| France | Le 1er mai (May 1) | Friday, May 1 | Public holiday and a compulsory day off for all employees, except where the business cannot interrupt work |
| China | Labor Day | Friday, May 1 | Statutory holiday of two days, May 1 and 2. The 2026 break ran from May 1 to May 5, with Saturday, May 9, worked as a make-up day |
| Hong Kong | Labour Day | Friday, May 1 | General holiday, and one of the 15 statutory holidays all employees are entitled to in 2026 |
| Singapore | Labour Day | Friday, May 1 | One of the 11 paid public holidays a year under the Employment Act |
| Malaysia | Hari Pekerja (Workers' Day) | Friday, May 1 | Federal public holiday |
| Philippines | Labor Day | Friday, May 1 | Regular holiday |
| Indonesia | Hari Buruh Internasional (International Labor Day) | Friday, May 1 | National public holiday |
| Vietnam | Ngày Quốc tế Lao động (International Labor Day) | Friday, May 1 | Paid public holiday of one day under Article 112 of the Labor Code 2019, the day after Victory Day on April 30 |
| United Kingdom | Early May bank holiday | Monday, May 4 | Bank holiday, which employers do not have to give as paid leave |
| Australia: Queensland | Labour Day | Monday, May 4 | State public holiday, on the first Monday in May |
| United States | Labor Day | Monday, September 7 | Federal holiday, on the first Monday in September |
| Canada | Labour Day | Monday, September 7 | Holiday under federal law, on the first Monday in September |
| Australia: New South Wales | Labour Day | Monday, October 5 | State public holiday |
| New Zealand | Labour Day | Monday, October 26 | Public holiday, on the fourth Monday in October |
| Japan | Labor Thanksgiving Day (Kinrō Kansha no Hi) | Monday, November 23 | National holiday |
Sources, all checked on September 30, 2026: the public holiday lists of Western Australia, Queensland, and New South Wales; France, Service-Public.fr; China, the State Council General Office's notice on the 2026 holiday arrangements and State Council Decree No. 795; Hong Kong, GovHK's general holidays for 2026 and the Labour Department's statutory holidays for 2026; Singapore, the Ministry of Manpower; Malaysia, the Penang State Government's list of 2026 federal public holidays; the Philippines, Proclamation No. 1006; Indonesia, the joint ministerial decree on 2026 national holidays; Vietnam, the Labor Code 2019 and the Ministry of Home Affairs' 2026 holiday notice; the United Kingdom, GOV.UK bank holidays; the United States, the Office of Personnel Management; Canada, the Interpretation Act, section 35; New Zealand, Employment New Zealand; Japan, the Cabinet Office.
Whether Labour Day is a paid day off, and what someone earns for working it, depends on the country. The table sets out the statutory rules in eight markets. They are minimums, and an employment contract or collective agreement can give more.
| Country | If an employee works on Labour Day | Source |
|---|---|---|
| United States | No premium under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which does not require payment for holidays, or overtime pay for work on a holiday unless the hours are overtime. Holiday pay is generally a matter of agreement between employer and employee. | US Department of Labor, holiday pay and overtime |
| Canada (federally regulated employers) | At least 1.5 times the regular rate of wages for the hours worked, plus general holiday pay for the day. In a continuous operation, the employer can instead give a paid holiday at another time. Managers and professionals get their regular rate and a substitute paid holiday. | Government of Canada, general holidays; Canada Labour Code, section 197 |
| United Kingdom | The law sets no extra rate for working a bank holiday, so any premium comes from the employment contract. Bank holidays do not have to be given as paid leave, and an employer can count them as part of a worker's statutory annual leave. | GOV.UK, holiday entitlement; nidirect, bank holidays (Northern Ireland) |
| France | May 1 is the only public holiday that is a compulsory day off for every employee. A business that cannot interrupt work, such as a hospital or public transport, can staff it, and an employee who works on May 1 is paid double. | Service-Public.fr; Labor Code, articles L3133-4 to L3133-6 |
| Singapore | For employees the Employment Act covers, if the holiday falls on a working day: by default, an extra day's salary at the basic rate of pay, plus the gross rate of pay for the holiday and overtime for hours beyond normal hours. By mutual agreement, a public holiday in lieu instead, or time off in lieu for employees outside Part 4 of the Employment Act. If it falls on a non-working day, such as a Saturday in a five-day week: overtime pay for the hours worked, plus an extra day's salary at the gross rate of pay or another day off. | Ministry of Manpower, public holidays: entitlement and pay |
| Hong Kong | The employer must arrange an alternative holiday within 60 days before or after Labour Day, with at least 48 hours' notice. Paying the employee instead of granting a holiday is not allowed. Employees with at least three months on a continuous contract also get holiday pay. | Labour Department, Concise Guide to the Employment Ordinance, chapter 4 |
| Philippines | At least twice the regular rate, because Labor Day is a regular holiday. The Labor Code and its implementing rules leave some groups outside the rule, including government employees, managerial employees, field personnel, and workers in retail and service establishments that regularly employ fewer than ten workers. | Labor Code of the Philippines, articles 82 and 94; Omnibus Rules Implementing the Labor Code, Book III, Rule IV, section 1 |
| China | At least 300% of normal wages for work on a statutory holiday. Labor Day's statutory holidays are May 1 and 2. | Labor Law, Article 44; State Council Decree No. 795 |
Our France public holidays guide covers the rest of the French calendar and how each holiday is paid. For Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam, our APAC public holiday guide compares the 2026 holiday seasons and the payroll rules around them.
A team spread across several of these countries takes Labour Day on different dates, and anyone who works it is paid under different rules. If you employ people abroad without a local entity, our Employer of Record service makes us their legal employer, and through Global Payroll we pay teams in 150+ countries and 130+ currencies. Our Global Contractor service onboards and pays independent contractors.
Labour Day is a public holiday for working people. It recognizes what workers contribute and the rights the labor movement won, such as the eight-hour day. The US Department of Labor describes the American Labor Day as an annual celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers. In most of the countries in our table, the holiday falls on May 1.
Countries celebrate it to recognize workers and to mark the campaigns for shorter hours and better conditions. In the United States, labor groups called a general strike for an eight-hour workday on May 1, 1886, and the Haymarket affair in Chicago followed on May 4. In New Zealand, it commemorates the struggle for an eight-hour working day, which the carpenter Samuel Parnell won in Wellington in 1840.
Workers. The holiday honors working people as a whole. The US Department of Labor says credit for proposing the American holiday is disputed between Peter J. McGuire of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and Matthew Maguire, a machinist and later secretary of a machinists' union local in Paterson, New Jersey, and that recent research seems to support Maguire. In New Zealand, the story starts with Samuel Parnell, who refused to work more than eight hours a day in 1840.
Many countries have a holiday for workers, but there is no single worldwide date. Of the 14 countries and territories in our table, 8 mark Labour Day on May 1. The United States and Canada use the first Monday in September, the three Australian states in our table use dates from March to October, New Zealand uses the fourth Monday in October, and Japan marks Labor Thanksgiving Day on November 23. The United Kingdom has no holiday by that name.
Mostly because the holidays have different histories. The US Labor Day goes back to a celebration in New York City on September 5, 1882, and Congress fixed it on the first Monday in September in 1894. May 1 is International Workers' Day, which the Library of Congress links to the Haymarket affair of 1886. New Zealand's holiday marks a local eight-hour-day victory from 1840 and has been held on the fourth Monday in October since 1910. In Australia, each state sets its own date.
In the countries that mark Labour Day on May 1, yes: International Workers' Day is held on May 1, and May 1 is widely known as May Day. In the United States and Canada, Labor Day is in September, and May 1 is not on either country's federal list of holidays.
Both are correct, and the spelling follows the country. The United States writes Labor Day, as do the Philippines and China's State Council in English. Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the three Australian states in our table use Labour Day as the official name.
Some do, and the extra pay depends on the country. In France, only a business that cannot interrupt work can staff May 1, and anyone who works it is paid double. China pays at least 300% of normal wages for work on May 1 or 2, the Philippines at least twice the regular rate for most private-sector employees, and federally regulated employers in Canada at least 1.5 times the regular rate plus holiday pay for most employees. In Singapore, an employee the Employment Act covers who works the holiday on a normal working day gets, by default, an extra day's salary at the basic rate of pay, while Hong Kong requires an alternative holiday and does not allow a payment in its place. In the United States, the Fair Labor Standards Act requires no holiday premium, so it generally comes down to the agreement between employer and employee.
It depends on the state or territory. In 2026, Labour Day falls on Monday, March 2, in Western Australia; on Monday, May 4, in Queensland, which uses the first Monday in May; and on Monday, October 5, in New South Wales. For the other states and territories, check the state or territory government's own public holiday list.
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