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.
✅ 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).
📂 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. |