Here’s a practitioner-grade explainer on Sick Leave vs. Holiday Pay rules when a Regular Holiday is involved (Philippines)—who’s covered, when holiday pay is due (worked or unworked), how absences and sick leave affect entitlement, and how to compute tricky overlaps (rest days, overtime, night work). You asked me not to search, so this draws from the Labor Code (renumbered), DOLE issuances/practice, and standard HR/litigation handling.

1) Who is covered by Regular Holiday pay

Covered: Rank-and-file employees (daily-paid, monthly-paid, piece-rate, probationary, casual, contractual/agency workers at the principal’s site), except those legally excluded, such as:

Government employees (Civil Service rules apply instead);
Managerial employees and field personnel whose hours cannot be determined with reasonable certainty (as classically defined);
Domestic workers (governed by the Kasambahay Law); and
Employees of retail and service establishments regularly employing fewer than ten (10) workers (statutory exemption to holiday pay).

If you’re not in an exempt category, regular holiday pay rules apply whether or not your industry runs 24/7.

2) The baseline rule on Regular Holidays

Unworked regular holiday: Employee is entitled to 100% of the daily wage (the “day’s pay”) if the employee is present or on leave with pay on the workday immediately preceding the holiday.
Worked regular holiday: For the first 8 hours, pay is 200% of the daily wage.
- If the holiday is also the employee’s rest day and the employee works: 200% + 30% of 200% = 260% for the first 8 hours.
- Overtime on a regular holiday: additional 30% of the hourly rate of the day (i.e., on the 200% or 260% base, as applicable).
- Night shift differential (NSD): additional 10% of the hourly rate of the day (again, on the 200%/260% base).

Monthly-paid employees typically receive unworked holiday pay by default (it’s baked into the monthly salary), provided they are not in an excluded category and subject to company policy cut-offs for absences.

3) The “immediately preceding workday” condition (the make-or-break test)

You forfeit unworked regular holiday pay if you are absent on the workday immediately preceding the holiday and that absence is unpaid (no leave credits, no authorized paid leave). You keep entitlement if, on that preceding day, you were:

Present; or
On leave with pay (e.g., approved paid sick leave/vacation leave, paid special leave under company/CBA, or paid SIL conversion if policy treats it as paid leave).

If the day immediately preceding the holiday is a non-working day in the establishment (e.g., Sunday and you don’t work Sundays): the “test day” slides back to the last workday actually scheduled, and the same presence/paid-leave rule applies.

4) Sick leave scenarios on or around a Regular Holiday

A) You were on paid sick leave on the workday immediately before the holiday

You are entitled to unworked holiday pay on the holiday.
Leave charging: Companies should not charge a sick-leave day for the holiday itself (it’s a paid holiday, not a workday), even if your sick leave spans multiple days. Most policies pause leave charging on regular holidays.

B) You were on unpaid sick leave (no available credits) on the preceding workday

You lose entitlement to unworked holiday pay (you can still get premium pay if you actually work on the holiday).

C) You are sick on the holiday itself and do not work

Holiday pay still hinges on the preceding workday rule. If you were present or on paid leave the workday before, you get the 100% holiday pay.
Leave charging: Best practice is no sick-leave deduction for the holiday itself.

D) You work on the holiday despite being on a multi-day medical leave

If you render work, you are paid the 200% (or 260% if it is also your rest day), regardless of your sick-leave status on other days; adjust leave charging accordingly.

5) Successive Regular Holidays (e.g., Maundy Thursday & Good Friday)

If two regular holidays are consecutive, an employee present or on leave with pay on the workday immediately preceding the first holiday is entitled to unworked holiday pay for both days.
If absent without pay on that test day, no unworked holiday pay for either day—unless the employee actually works on the holiday(s).

6) Interplay with company sick-leave programs & SIL

Sick Leave (company/CBA-based): Philippine law does not mandate paid sick leave beyond the 5-day Service Incentive Leave (SIL); most employers grant paid SL/VL by policy/CBA. Those paid leave credits qualify as “leave with pay” for the preceding-workday test.
SIL (5 days/year): If your policy lets SIL be taken as paid SL/VL, a paid SIL day counts as leave with pay for the test day. If SIL is unused convertible but not applied as paid leave to that date, it won’t help you pass the test.

7) Daily-paid vs. Monthly-paid; piece-rate & commissions

Daily-paid: Strictly follows the presence/paid-leave preceding-day test for the unworked holiday. Worked-holiday premiums apply as usual.
Monthly-paid: Unworked regular holidays are usually included in the monthly rate (no separate add-on), but deductions for AWOL/unpaid absences that break eligibility may be reflected in payroll per policy.
Piece-rate/commissioned: Still entitled to unworked holiday pay if covered by the law and pass the test day; the daily equivalent is computed from the applicable time-rated equivalent or CBA/policy formula.
Agency workers: If deployed to a principal and otherwise covered, holiday pay is due; liability allocation depends on the service agreement, but the worker must be paid.

8) Computation guide (worked scenarios)

Let Basic Daily Rate (BDR) be the employee’s straight-time daily wage.

Worked on a regular holiday (not a rest day): Pay = 200% × BDR for up to 8 hours. Overtime hours: +30% of the hourly rate of the day (i.e., 200% base). Night hours (10pm–6am): +10% of hourly rate of the day.
Worked on a regular holiday that is also a rest day: Pay = 260% × BDR (that is, 200% + 30% of 200%) for up to 8 hours. Overtime: +30% of the hourly rate of the day (i.e., 260% base). Night hours: +10% of hourly rate of the day (on the 260% base).
Unworked regular holiday (eligible): Pay = 100% × BDR.

Always check your CBA/company policy: it may be more favorable (e.g., additional premium, guaranteed minimum for piece-rate).

9) Edge cases & practical pointers

Preceding day is a scheduled rest day: The test goes to the last scheduled workday before the holiday.
Suspension of work by government on the preceding day: If it was a regular workday that became a suspension, DOLE practice treats it like a non-working day; look to presence/paid leave on the last actual workday before the suspension.
AWOL or no-call/no-show on the test day: No unworked holiday pay; worked-holiday rules still apply if you actually work on the holiday.
Leave spanning the holiday: Do not deduct a leave credit for the holiday itself; resume leave charging on the next workday.
Probationary employees: Covered like regular rank-and-file (no exclusion just because of probationary status).
Holiday on a shutdown/temporary closure: If the regular holiday falls within a temporary shutdown initiated by the employer, entitlement depends on whether the employee passes the test day and the shutdown terms (e.g., temporary lay-off with no pay may cut off unworked holiday pay if the employee isn’t on leave with pay on the test day).

10) Quick decision tree (unworked regular holiday)

Are you in a covered category?
- If no (e.g., managerial/field personnel, <10 data-preserve-html-node="true"-worker retail/service, government): Not entitled under the Labor Code holiday pay rule.
- If yes, go to (2).
Were you present OR on leave with pay on the workday immediately before the holiday (or the last scheduled workday if the day before was non-working)?
- If yes → Pay 100% of BDR for the holiday.
- If no → No unworked holiday pay.
Did you work on the holiday?
- If yes → Apply 200% (or 260% if also rest day) + applicable OT/NSD.
- If no → Result from step (2) stands.

11) FAQs

Q: I was on paid sick leave the day before the regular holiday. I didn’t work on the holiday. Do I get paid the holiday? A: Yes. Paid sick leave on the preceding workday satisfies the test; you get 100% of BDR for the holiday, and your sick-leave credit shouldn’t be charged for the holiday itself.

Q: I had no sick-leave credits and didn’t report the day before the holiday. Do I get unworked holiday pay? A: No. Absence without pay on the test day disqualifies you—unless you actually work on the holiday.

Q: The holiday was my rest day and I worked. How much should I get? A: 260% of BDR for the first 8 hours (200% + 30% of 200%), plus OT/NSD as applicable.

Q: I’m monthly-paid. Do these rules still matter? A: Yes—unworked regular holidays are generally paid within your monthly rate, but unpaid absences around the test day (or exclusion categories) can affect entitlement per policy.

Q: We have a CBA that gives higher holiday premiums. Which applies? A: The more favorable terms to the employee prevail.

Bottom line

Unworked regular holiday pay is due if—and only if—you were present or on paid leave on the immediately preceding scheduled workday.
Paid sick leave on that test day preserves entitlement; unpaid absence usually kills it.
Worked regular holidays are paid at 200% (or 260% if also a rest day), with OT and NSD computed on that higher base.
Do not charge leave credits for the holiday itself; resume leave counting on the next workday.
Always check exemption categories and CBA/company policies that may enhance (but not diminish) the statutory minimums.

If you want, give me your exact timeline (which days were sick/paid/unpaid, your schedule, and whether the holiday was also a rest day), and I’ll compute the precise payroll for that span down to the peso—including OT/NSD if any.