SAMOA

PUBLIC HOLIDAYS ACT 2008

Arrangement of Provisions

Part I
Preliminary

1.	Short title and commencement
2.	Interpretation

Part II
Public Holidays

3.	Shop may open
4.	School and place of employment to be closed
5.	Exempted services and places of employment
6.	Minister’s powers

7.	Head of State’s power

Part III
Amendments

8.	Shops Ordinance 1961
9.	Repeal
10.	Labour and Employment
	Act 1972

Part IV
Miscellaneous

11.	Offence and penalty
12.	Regulations

PUBLIC HOLIDAYS ACT 2008
2008							No. 3

AN ACT to amend and set up the law relating to public holidays.
[Assent date: 25 January 2008]
[Commencement date: 1 January 2008]

BE IT ENACTED by the Legislative Assembly of Samoa in Parliament assembled as follows:

PART 1
PRELIMINARY

1.	Short title and commencement–(1) This Act may be cited as the Public Holidays Act 2008.
(2)This Act comes into force on 1 January 2008.

2.	Interpretation–(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:
“emergency”means emergency as defined in section 2 of the Fire and Emergency Service Act 2007;
“Minister” means the Minister responsible for employment and labour in Samoa;
“pharmacy” means pharmacy as defined in section 2 of the Pharmacy Act 2007;
“place of employment” means place of employment as defined in section 2 of the Labour and Employment Relations Act 2013;
“public holiday” means:
(a)Christmas Day;
(b)Boxing Day;
(c)New Year’s Day;
(d)the day after New Year’s Day;
(e)Good Friday;
(f)the Saturday after Good Friday;
(g)Easter Monday;
(h)Mothers’ Day being the Monday after the second Sunday in May;
(i)Independence Day;
(j)Fathers’ Day being the Monday after the second Sunday in August;
(k)Lotu a Tamaiti Holiday being the Monday after the second Sunday inOctober (White Sunday);
(1)the Monday after the days referred to in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (d) and (h) wherethat day falls on a Sunday;
(m)theTuesday after:
(i)ChristmasDaywhereChristmas Day falls on aSunday; and
(ii)New Year’s Day where NewYear’s Day falls on a Sunday;and
(n) polling day and the day immediately before polling day in any general elections; and
(o)any day declared to be a public holiday by the Head of State in accordance withthis Act.
“shop”means shop as defined in section 2 of the Shops Ordinance 1961.

Part II
Public Holidays

3.	Shop may open – A shop may open for operations during a public holiday.

4.	School and place of employment to be closed–Except as provided for in this Act, a school or a place of employment shall be closed for all operations during a public holiday.

5.	Exempted servicesand places of employment –Section 4 does not apply to the following services and places of employment:
(a)	morgue or funeral services;
(b)	hospital;
(c)	pharmacy;
(d)	fire and emergency services;
(e)	search and rescue services;
(f)	police services;
(g)	security services;
(h)	waste management services;
(i) 	public transport services;
(j) 	shipping services;
(k) 	civil aviation services;
(l) 	hotel and hospitality services;
(m) 	communication services;
(n) 	the Electoral Commissioner, his or her staff and such assistants working under his or her direction on public holidays during elections.

6.	Minister’s powers – Despite the provisions of this Act or any other Act, the Minister may by order, authorise:
(a)	a school or a place of employment to be open during a public holiday; or
(b)	a shop to be closed during a public holiday.
7.	Head of State’s power –The Head of State, acting on the advice of Cabinet, may declare any day to be a public holiday.

Part III
Amendments

8.	Shops Ordinance 1961–(1) Section 2 of the Shops Ordinance 1961 is amended by substituting the definition of “public holiday” with “means any holiday defined in or declared under the Public Holidays Act 2008”.

9.	Repeal- Sections 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 16(2) of the Shops Ordinance 1961 are repealed.

10.	Labour and Employment Act 1972–Section 2 of the Labour and Employment Act 1972, at the definition of “public holiday” is amended by substituting “Shops Ordinance 1961” with “Public Holidays Act 2008”.

Part IV
Miscellaneous

11.	Offence and penalty –A person who breaches a provision of this Act commits an offence and is liable upon conviction to a fine not exceeding 100 penalty units or 12 months imprisonment, or both.

12.	Regulations–The Head of State, acting on the advice of Cabinet, may make regulations prescribing matters:
(a)	required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed; or
(b)	necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act.
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REVISION NOTES 2008 – 2014

This is the official version of this Act as at 31 December 2014.

This Act has been revised by the Legislative Drafting Division from 2008 to 2014 respectively under the authority of the Attorney General given under the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008.

The following general revisions have been made:
(a)	Insertion of the commencement date
(b)	Other minor editing has been done in accordance with the lawful powers of the Attorney General, where appropriate:
(i)	Present tense drafting style:“shall not” changed to “does not”
(ii)	Removal/replacement of obsolete and archaic terms with plain language: “preceding” changed to “before”
(iii)	Parts renumbered using roman numerals

Since its enactment,the Act has been amended– 

By theElectoral Amendment Act 2009, No. 21 (commenced 27 October 2009)

Section 2	-	Inserted a new paragraph (n) after paragraph (m) and renumbering the current paragraph (n) as paragraph(o) by section 22.

Section 5	-	Inserted a new paragraph (n) after paragraph (m) by section 22.

This Act is administered by
 the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labour