2026 Dragon Boat Festival Holiday: How Is Overtime Pay Calculated? Double Wages for Working on a National Holiday

The 2026 Dragon Boat Festival long weekend runs from June 19 to June 21 (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday — three days), and this time there’s no make-up workday. If you’re scheduled to work on Dragon Boat Festival day itself (June 19), keep one rule in mind: for on-duty work during a national holiday, wages must be “doubled.” In other words, on top of paying your regular wages for the day, your employer owes you an additional day’s wages. In Taiwan’s national-holiday context, “double wages” generally means the worker receives the regular paid holiday wage plus one additional day’s wage for working that day. This guide lays out — all in one place — how overtime pay is calculated for monthly- and hourly-paid workers, how extended-overtime pay is added on, and whether “comp time only” is legal. Information current as of June 2026.

Which days are the 2026 Dragon Boat Festival long weekend? Defining the national holiday

Dragon Boat Festival is a national holiday designated under Article 37 of the Labor Standards Act (a day on which the Ministry of the Interior requires leave to be given), so employers are obligated to give workers the day off with full pay. In 2026, Dragon Boat Festival falls on Friday, June 19, which combines with Saturday and Sunday to form a 3-day long weekend, and there’s no make-up workday scheduled anywhere on the calendar for this holiday.

The key point: a national holiday has a different legal status from an ordinary weekend (a mandatory day off or a rest day), and overtime pay for working it is calculated differently too — the premium for working a national holiday is usually more favorable to the worker.

What does “doubled wages” mean for working on a national holiday?

Under Article 39 of the Labor Standards Act, if an employer has a worker on the job during a national holiday with the worker’s consent, wages shall be doubled. The view taken by the courts and the Ministry of Labor is that “doubled” here means an additional day’s wages on top of the day’s wages that were owed in the first place.

In plain terms:

You already had a day’s pay for this day off (national holiday wages are paid as usual).
Because you came in to work, the employer owes you “one more day.”
So working 8 hours on Dragon Boat Festival means you can collect 2× the daily wage for that day.

How is overtime pay calculated for monthly-paid workers on Dragon Boat Festival (with a worked example)?

For monthly-paid workers, the daily wage is usually calculated as “monthly salary ÷ 30.” Let’s use the 2026 minimum monthly wage of NT$29,500 as an example:

Daily wage = 29,500 ÷ 30 ≈ NT$983
For 8 hours of on-duty work on Dragon Boat Festival (a national holiday), the employer owes an additional day’s wages — meaning that month’s pay should include an extra roughly NT$983.

If your monthly salary is NT$36,000, your daily wage is 36,000 ÷ 30 = NT$1,200, so working 8 hours on Dragon Boat Festival means an extra NT$1,200 of national-holiday on-duty pay should show up on that month’s payslip. To work out how many days your long weekend spans, or how long you’ve been employed, you can use the date calculator to quickly figure out the number of days in a range and cross-check it against your attendance records.

How overtime pay is calculated for hourly and part-time workers

Hourly, student, and part-time workers are equally covered by “doubled wages” for on-duty work during a national holiday. The calculation: your regular hourly wage is paid as usual, plus an additional payment for the same number of hours. Using the 2026 minimum hourly wage of NT$196 as an example, working on Dragon Boat Festival:

4 hours worked: the original 196 × 4 = NT$784, plus an additional NT$784, for a total of about NT$1,568.
8 hours worked: the original 196 × 8 = NT$1,568, plus an additional NT$1,568, for a total of about NT$3,136.

Many part-time workers are unaware of this right, and when scheduled to work a national holiday they collect only their normal hourly wage, effectively forgoing half of what they are owed. Workers should always check their pay.

Working more than 8 hours: extended overtime adds even more

If you work more than 8 hours on Dragon Boat Festival, the portion over 8 hours counts as extended working time and must be paid extra under Article 24 of the Labor Standards Act:

Hours 9 and 10 (the first 2 extra hours): paid at at least one-third more than the weekday hourly wage.
Hours 11 and 12 (the next 2 hours): paid at at least two-thirds more than the weekday hourly wage.

For hours beyond the normal 8-hour workday, the extra portion must be calculated under the Labor Standards Act’s extended-working-hours rules. Because the final amount depends on the worker’s schedule and the legal status of the day, workers should keep attendance records and check the calculation with the local labor affairs bureau if there is a dispute.

Is it legal for an employer to give comp time only and no overtime pay?

This is the most common dispute. The doubled wages for working a national holiday should, as a rule, be paid in cash. If an employer wants to substitute comp time, it requires the worker’s consent, the comp-time standard cannot be lower than the wages that should have been added, and the comp-time deadline and the handling of any unused balance must also comply with the regulations. In other words, the employer cannot unilaterally force you to “offset your overtime pay with comp time.”

If you were required to work on Dragon Boat Festival but received only a day of comp time with no overtime pay, and you never agreed to that arrangement, there is a problem. The recommendation: first discuss it with HR and keep your LINE or email records; if that does not resolve it, call the 1955 Labor Consultation Hotline or report it to the Ministry of Labor or your local labor affairs bureau.

FAQ

When is the 2026 Dragon Boat Festival? How long is the long weekend?

The 2026 Dragon Boat Festival is Friday, June 19, which combines with the weekend on June 20 and 21 for a 3-day long weekend, with no make-up workday. If you want to extend the break with leave, taking 4 days off from June 15 to 18 stitches it into a 9-day holiday.

How is overtime pay calculated for working on Dragon Boat Festival?

Dragon Boat Festival is a national holiday, so wages for the first 8 hours of on-duty work are doubled — meaning you collect 2× the daily wage. For monthly-paid workers the daily wage is roughly the monthly salary divided by 30; for hourly workers, the regular hourly wage is paid as usual plus an additional payment for the same number of hours. The portion beyond 8 hours is paid extra under Article 24 of the Labor Standards Act.

Does working a national holiday always have to be paid in cash? Can it be comp time only?

As a rule, wages should be doubled. If comp time is substituted instead, it requires the worker’s consent, and the comp time cannot be lower than the wage standard that should have been added; the employer cannot unilaterally force comp time to offset overtime pay. Giving comp time only with no overtime pay, without consent, can be reported to the labor affairs bureau.

Do hourly student workers get overtime pay for working a national holiday too?

Yes. Hourly and part-time workers are equally covered by doubled wages for on-duty work during a national holiday. Taking an hourly wage of NT$196 and 8 hours of work as an example, the original NT$1,568 plus an additional NT$1,568 totals about NT$3,136 — be sure to check whether your pay falls short.