News - 07.08.2023

Happy Commerce Day!

Commerce Day is a major public holiday, meaning that there is no obligation to work but employees should still be paid their fixed and regular wages for the day. If an employee has agreed to work on a major public holiday they should be paid overtime wages in addition to their normal salaries. Hourly overtimes wages are calculated as 1,375% of an employees regular monthly wages.

Read more about overtime pay on major public holidays and related issues here. 

Commerce Day is an annual holiday which celebrates shop- and retail workers. It was first celebrated in Reykjavík on September 13th, 1894. At that time, workers did not generally receive paid leave for the summer. It might therefore be said that Commerce Day marks the start of the progression towards a tradition of paid leave in Iceland, which is now firmly enshrined in labor laws.