Overview
Use this guide when a statutory holiday is optional in a specific jurisdiction or not automatically included in the system, and you would like to provide it to your employees. This also applies when creating company-specific holidays, such as internal closure days or additional paid time off.
Examples of common non-statutory holidays include:
Optional Holidays (e.g., Easter Monday or August Civic Holiday in certain provinces)
Company-wide closure days
Cultural or recognition days
Winter/Holiday shutdown days
Wellness or mental health days
These additional holidays must be added manually by the Payroll Administrator, either at the beginning of the year or as needed.
⚠️ Important: Any changes made directly to bundle-provided statutory holidays will be overwritten during future bundle updates. To preserve your custom settings, always create a new, separate holiday record configured to your organization’s needs.
Follow the steps below to add a new holiday:
Step 1: Search for “Payroll Statutory Holiday”
Navigate to the Global Search bar at the top of NetSuite.
Enter:
Payroll Statutory Holiday
Step 2: Select “New Payroll Statutory Holiday”
From the search results list, click on New Payroll Statutory Holiday. This will open the holiday setup form.
Step 3: Complete the Holiday Details
A form will appear where you can configure the new holiday.
| Field | Instruction |
|---|---|
| A. Name | Enter a clear name for the holiday (e.g., National Day for Truth and Reconciliation - Observed). |
| B. Date Observed | Enter the specific date the holiday will occur for the current calendar year. |
| C. State (Province) | Select the province(s) where the holiday applies. Tip: Hold CTRL (Windows) or Command (Mac) to select multiple provinces. |
| D. Jurisdiction | Ensure the selection matches the province(s) to apply the holiday logic only to employees in those specific jurisdictions. |
Step 4: Save and Finalize
Click Save. The new holiday will now appear in your Payroll Statutory Holiday List and will be recognized by the system for relevant calculations.
🗓️ Annual Maintenance Checklist
To ensure payroll accuracy, employers offering non-legislated holidays should perform the following checks at the start of each year:
🆕 Annual Setup Add these custom holidays at the start of every new calendar year to ensure the system is prepared for upcoming pay runs.
🔍 Compliance Audit Review the holiday list thoroughly before processing the first payroll of the year to avoid missing any manual entries.
âś… Date Verification Confirm that "Observed" dates align with your specific company policy for that year (e.g., confirming the Monday observed date if a holiday falls on a Saturday).
đź“‚ Policy Sync Ensure your manual entries reflect any updates made to your internal HR handbook or company closure policies.
Frequently Asked Questions
| Scenario | What should I do? |
|---|---|
| The holiday exists in the system, but I want to apply it to additional regions | Create a new custom holiday for the additional regions. Do not modify the existing system holiday. |
| My company provides a holiday that is not legislated (e.g., Easter Monday), and it is not included for my region | Create a new custom holiday and assign it to the applicable regions. This ensures your company policy is applied without affecting system-delivered holidays. |