What You Need To Know About Philippine Holidays and Paid Time Off (PTO)

Last updated in April 2026.

Now that you’ve hired a Filipino virtual assistant (VA), you might be wondering how to handle Philippine holidays and paid time off (PTO). What’s the best approach?

Well, that largely depends on your outsourcing arrangement. It’s smart to address these PTO and holiday policies early on to avoid any disruptions to your operations.

What You Need To Know About Paid Time Off (PTO)

How is PTO applied to Filipino VAs?

VAs Paid By The Hour

VAs Paid Per Project

Part-time and Full-time VAs Paid Per Month/Week (The Onlinejobs.ph Way)

What About Holidays?

1. Check Out the Philippine Holiday Calendar

2. Create Your Own Holiday Calendar

3. Lay Out Your Policies on Paid and Unpaid Time Off

4. Include the Holiday schedule and PTO Policy in Your Onboarding Process

Tips for Establishing Holiday and PTO Policies

Put It in Writing

Communicate Early Your Holiday Expectations

Prepare Shift Schedules Ahead of Time

Show Some Appreciation

Pay Them Early

What You Need To Know About Paid Time Off (PTO)

Most Filipino workers and businesses in the Philippines recognize the types of paid leaves listed below.

Do these leaves apply to your Online Filipino Specialist (OFS)?

Not necessarily. Since your OFS are considered independent contractors, you’re not required to provide the PTOs listed below. However, the paid leave you offer will depend on your work arrangement with your Filipino VA. You can use the list below as a guideline for the types of PTO you might consider offering.

1. Service Incentive Leave (SIL): After one year of service, employees are entitled to five paid SIL days annually, which can be used for sick leave, vacation leave, or personal time off. Unused days are usually converted to cash if not used.
2. Vacation Leave: The five SIL days can already be used for vacation time, so any vacation leave beyond that is optional and depends on the company policy. Many employers choose to offer extra vacation days as an added benefit, especially for long-term team members.
3. Sick Leave: The same applies to sick leave—the legally required five SIL days can also be used when an employee is sick. If you want to offer additional sick leave beyond that, it’s entirely your choice as the employer and can be customized based on what works best for your business.
4. Maternity Leave: In the Philippines, female employees are entitled to maternity leave benefits through the government’s SSS maternity program. For live childbirth, the standard leave is 105 paid days. If the pregnancy ends in miscarriage or emergency termination, the leave is 60 paid days. During this period, the employer advances the maternity pay, which is later reimbursed by the Philippine SSS, as long as the employee has made at least three monthly contributions within the 12 months before the semester of childbirth or pregnancy loss. In some cases, employers may also need to cover salary differential as required by law.
5. Paternity Leave: Fathers are entitled to up to seven days of paid leave within a month of their child’s birth for the first four deliveries of their legal spouse, as mandated by Philippine law.
6. Parental Leave: Single parents with sole custody of their children are eligible for an additional 7 days of paid leave per year under the Expanded Solo Parents Welfare Act.
7. Rehabilitation Leave: This leave is provided to employees recovering from an injury or illness. This isn’t a standard legal requirement for private employers in the Philippines. If an employee needs extended recovery time, this is usually handled through company policy or government programs like SSS sickness benefits. The duration depends on the doctor’s recommendation and the company’s policy.

How is PTO applied to Filipino VAs?

Let’s examine the common outsourcing scenarios to see if and how paid leave applies.

VAs Paid By The Hour

Holidays: If you hire VAs on an hourly basis and don’t require them to work on holidays, you’re not obligated to provide paid time off.

However, if you do need them to work during holidays, you might consider offering additional incentives. One option is to increase their hourly rate for holiday work.

Paid Leaves: If you’d like to be generous, you can offer paid leaves from the list above, but it’s not typically required for hourly workers.

VAs Paid Per Project

Holidays: If a holiday occurs during the project timeline, you’re not obligated to provide paid time off. When paying per project, compensation is based on the output, not specific workdays.

However, if you need your virtual assistant (VA) to work over the holidays to meet a tight deadline, offering a bonus for early project completion would be a fair incentive.

Paid Leaves: Similar to hourly workers, it’s entirely up to you whether to offer paid leaves or additional incentives for project-based VAs.

Part-time and Full-time VAs Paid Per Month/Week (The Onlinejobs.ph Way)

Holidays: When hiring Filipino VAs on a part-time or full-time basis, there are several ways to handle holidays.

Since Filipino VAs are considered independent contractors, they are not covered by the Philippines’ Department of Labor’s guidelines for holiday pay. However, you can choose to offer additional compensation if you require them to work on holidays.

At OnlineJobs.ph, we take a straightforward approach: we pay our Online Filipino Specialists (OFSes) the same salary regardless of the number of holidays in a month. They have the freedom to either work or take the day off on holidays, without any adjustments to their pay. This eliminates the need to calculate additional holiday pay.

Paid Leaves: We strongly recommend offering paid leaves that are reasonable for your business. Most companies provide paid leaves after six months of employment. In the Philippines, it’s common to offer 1 sick leave and 1 vacation leave per month once an employee completes their probationary period.

At OnlineJobs.ph, we take a more flexible approach. We allow our OFSes to take as much paid leave as they need, as long as they inform us in advance. Our policy is simple: take the time off you need—just let us know when.

What About Holidays?

It’s best to discuss holiday policies with your VA as soon as you hire them.

Filipinos are very family-oriented and often plan trips or celebrations around long holidays. Some even choose to forgo certain holidays to “save up” leave days for extended vacations. Addressing holiday expectations early on helps avoid scheduling conflicts down the road.

There are two types of holidays in the Philippines: Regular Holidays and Special Holidays.

Regular Holidays are the major holidays most Filipinos observe. These are typically non-working days with fixed dates, such as New Year’s Day and Christmas. However, some holidays, like National Heroes Day and religious observances (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Eid’l Fitr, and Eidul Adha), vary in date each year.

For employees of registered businesses, regular holidays usually come with paid time off. If required to work, they are entitled to double their regular pay. However, this does not apply to independent contractors, such as your virtual assistant.

Special Holidays can be working or non-working days, depending on government proclamation. The “no work, no pay” rule generally applies, meaning employees won’t be paid if they take the day off. Again, this doesn’t apply to independent contractors like your VA.

Filipino virtual assistants understand that some holidays will require them to work. If you need them to do so, having a clear and respectful conversation about it doesn’t have to be awkward.

1. Check out the Philippine Holiday Calendar

Below is the 2026 Philippine Holiday Calendar, which we update annually as soon as the Philippine government releases the official list of holidays.

If you prefer a more integrated option, you can subscribe to our Philippine Holidays Google Calendar to automatically add these dates to your schedule.

2. Create Your Own Holiday Calendar

Now that you have the list of Philippine holidays, it’s time to compare them with your own holiday schedule. Combine them into one comprehensive calendar. On this calendar, clearly mark:

• Holidays your VA is required to work
• Holidays that are negotiable
• Holidays your VA can take off

We recommend updating this calendar every year.

Planning ahead allows your virtual assistant to organize their schedule accordingly. It also helps you budget for any holiday pay if you require them to work during these dates.

3. Lay Out Your Policies on Paid and Unpaid Time Off

Once you’ve determined which holidays your VA can take off, it’s essential to establish a clear process for filing leaves and vacation days.

Consider the following questions:

• How should your virtual assistant request time off? Should they email you, call you, or use a specific platform?
• Do you require them to fill out a leave form? If so, how should they access and submit it?
• How much notice is needed? How many days in advance should they inform you about their leave?

Every business operates differently, so your system for managing time off will depend on your team’s needs. Leverage your own experience or consult with your staff to create a policy that works best for everyone.

4. Include the Holiday Schedule and PTO Policy in Your Onboarding Process

Introducing your holiday schedule and paid time off (PTO) policy during the onboarding process is not just good practice—it also prevents misunderstandings when holidays roll around.

When VAs are informed right from the start, they’ll know:

• When they can start earning leave credits
• Which holidays they are required to work
• Which holidays they have off with pay
• How much their holiday pay will be
• How to file for leaves

With this clarity, your virtual assistant can get to work without uncertainty, and you won’t have to worry about last-minute surprises. A well-defined system helps make outsourcing a smoother, less stressful experience.

Tips for Establishing Holiday and PTO Policies

Once you hire a virtual assistant, it’s essential to establish clear policies on holidays and PTO.

A well-defined policy helps you avoid unexpected surprises, like multiple employees taking leave at the same time or being unprepared for holiday overtime pay.

Put It in Writing

Include your holiday and PTO policies in a formal document, such as a contract, company policy, or internal wiki.

Even if you initially discussed these policies through email or messaging, having a shared, written document ensures that both you and your VA are on the same page. This documented policy will also serve as a reference when hiring more VAs or if any issues arise in the future.

Communicate Early Your Holiday Expectations

In an ideal world, everyone could take time off during the holidays.

However, the reality is that business doesn’t always stop just because it’s a holiday. And let’s face it—nobody wants to do more work than absolutely necessary during this time.

To make things easier for everyone, be clear about the tasks that absolutely need to be done over the holidays. Avoid assigning non-essential work, and whenever possible, postpone those tasks until after the holidays. By then, your team will be rested and more prepared to take on additional responsibilities.

Prepare Shift Schedules Ahead of Time

Sharing the workload is one way to make working over the holidays more manageable.

By planning and distributing holiday shifts well in advance, you allow your VAs to organize their schedules, making it easier for them to balance work and holiday celebrations.

Show Some Appreciation

One way to make working during the holidays more bearable is to show your appreciation. A simple thank-you email can go a long way in boosting team morale.

If your budget allows, consider offering a 13th Month Pay bonus. It’s a meaningful gesture that shows your gratitude and makes the holiday season a bit brighter for your team.

Pay Them Early

The holiday season is one of the most challenging times to send money to the Philippines. With more overseas workers sending remittances and back-to-back banking holidays, delays and bottlenecks are common.

To avoid these issues, send salaries and bonuses earlier than usual. The best way to do that is to pay through EasyPay.

Planning ahead prevents last-minute headaches and ensures your VA gets paid on time. Keep in mind that many Filipinos feel uncomfortable discussing payment concerns, so it’s best to take the initiative. By addressing this early, you can keep your VA happy and focused, allowing you to continue growing your business.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to give my OFS every Philippine holiday off?
No—you don’t have to automatically give every Philippine holiday off. That’s completely up to you and your agreement with your OFS. Some employers follow Philippine holidays, some follow their own country’s holidays, and others create a custom mix that works for both sides. 

Why should I keep track of Philippine holidays if my business is based elsewhere?
Because Philippine holidays can affect your OFS’s availability, especially during major holidays like Holy Week, Christmas, and New Year. Knowing these dates helps you plan workloads better and avoid last-minute surprises. 

What’s the easiest way to handle holiday schedules with my OFS?
The best approach is to talk about it early and set expectations from the start. Decide together which holidays matter most, whether time off is paid or unpaid, and how much notice you’d like for holiday leave. Clear communication makes everything smoother for everyone.

The Bottom Line on Time Off

Philippine holidays don’t have to be complicated—as long as you and your OFS are on the same page. The key is setting expectations early, talking through holiday schedules ahead of time, and creating a system that works for both your business and your team member. A little planning goes a long way, and being thoughtful about time off helps build trust, avoid confusion, and keep your working relationship strong.

Want to make managing holidays and PTO even easier? Check out our guide to outsourcing to the Philippines for practical tips on scheduling, team planning, and keeping your OFS happy: Outsourcing to the Philippines Guide or learn how to streamline your VA management with tools, tips, and strategies at OneVAAway.com.