The complete calendar of public holidays in Romania in 2026: every legal holiday with its day of the week, the bridge days, working on holidays and how to plan time tracking.
Translated from Romanian. This article covers Romanian labour and tax law; the Romanian version is canonical and is updated first.
Planning a working year starts with a simple question for any business owner or HR manager: how many public holidays are there in 2026 and how do they fall in the calendar. The answer matters for time tracking, for the team’s leave schedule and for the salary budget, especially where people also work on holidays.
Public holidays are governed by article 139 of the Labour Code (Codul Muncii, Legea nr. 53/2003). They are non-working days for which the employee receives full salary, as if they had worked. Very important: these days are not deducted from annual leave. They are a separate right, added on top of the minimum of 20 leave days.
The rule applies to all individual employment contracts, regardless of working time or type of contract.
The Codul Muncii lists 17 public holidays in an ordinary year. In 2026, however, 1 June is an overlap: Whit Monday and Children’s Day fall on the same day. The two holidays merge into a single day off, so the effective number of non-working days comes to 16.
Of these, roughly 11 fall on a weekday (Monday to Friday), and the rest fall at the weekend — days that, as you will see below, are “lost”.
| Date | Holiday | Day of the week |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January | New Year (Anul Nou) | Thursday |
| 2 January | New Year | Friday |
| 6 January | Epiphany (Boboteaza) | Tuesday |
| 7 January | Saint John the Baptist (Sfântul Ioan Botezătorul) | Wednesday |
| 24 January | Union of the Romanian Principalities Day (Ziua Unirii Principatelor Române) | Saturday |
| 10 April | Good Friday (Vinerea Mare) | Friday |
| 12 April | Orthodox Easter (Paștele ortodox) | Sunday |
| 13 April | Easter Monday (A doua zi de Paște) | Monday |
| 1 May | Labour Day (Ziua Muncii) | Friday |
| 31 May | Pentecost (Rusalii) | Sunday |
| 1 June | Whit Monday (A doua zi de Rusalii) / Children’s Day (Ziua Copilului) | Monday |
| 15 August | Dormition of the Mother of God (Adormirea Maicii Domnului) | Saturday |
| 30 November | Saint Andrew (Sfântul Andrei) | Monday |
| 1 December | Romania’s National Day (Ziua Națională a României) | Tuesday |
| 25 December | Christmas Day (Crăciunul) | Friday |
| 26 December | Second day of Christmas (A doua zi de Crăciun) | Saturday |
The dates for the Easter holidays (Good Friday, Easter, Pentecost) follow the Orthodox calendar for 2026.
A point that often surprises employees: if a public holiday falls on a Saturday or a Sunday, Romanian legislation does not provide for a compensatory day off during the week. Unlike other countries, here the day is simply “lost”.
In 2026 this happens with 24 January (Saturday), 12 April (Easter, Sunday), 31 May (Pentecost, Sunday), 15 August (Saturday) and 26 December (Saturday). These are holidays for which no time off in lieu is granted.
The way the holidays fall in 2026 produces a few natural short breaks:
These bridges are the most requested leave periods, so they are worth planning ahead, taking care not to leave the team short-staffed.
Where the activity cannot be interrupted (manufacturing, retail, HoReCa, services), employees can be scheduled to work on holidays. Article 142 of the Codul Muncii sets out the compensation:
The two options are alternatives — the employer chooses one of them, not both. Through negotiation (collective or individual contract) the bonus can be higher than 100%, but not lower.
An employee with a base salary of 40 lei/hour works 8 hours on the National Day (1 December). If the company cannot grant a day off within 30 days, it owes the bonus of at least 100%: those 8 hours are paid double — 640 lei instead of 320 lei for that day. (Illustrative figures.)
Employees who do not belong to the Orthodox Christian denomination — for example those of other Christian confessions or of other recognised religions — are entitled to days off for their own religious holidays, on the dates set by that denomination. For Christians following a different calendar, Good Friday, Easter and Pentecost are granted on the dates on which each denomination celebrates them.
Failure by the employer to observe the provisions on public holidays (art. 139) is sanctioned as an administrative offence. The fine provided by the Codul Muncii for this breach is from 5,000 to 10,000 lei. Always check the current value in the text in force at the date of the act.
Managing public holidays properly is exactly the kind of process that lends itself to automation, because the rules are clear but easy to get wrong by hand:
The internal assistant Modi answers questions such as “how many public holidays are there this month” on the basis of the configured rules — deterministically, without an external language model, so with no risk of inventing a date or a threshold. What is not in the rules does not appear in the answer.
Informational article, accurate at the date of publication. Not tax or legal advice. Legislation may change and particular situations may have exceptions — always check at the official source (Codul Muncii, Monitorul Oficial) or with a specialist.
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