Public Holidays in Liechtenstein: All 13 Days Explained

A statutory holiday in Liechtenstein is a day the Employment Act expressly puts on a par with Sundays — the same ban on work applies. Art. 18 (2) of the Employment Act lists them exhaustively:

• New Year's Day — 1 January
• Epiphany — 6 January
• Easter Monday — movable, the day after Easter
• Labour Day — 1 May
• Ascension Day — movable, 39 days after Easter
• Whit Monday — movable, 50 days after Easter
• Corpus Christi — movable, 60 days after Easter
• Assumption of Mary — 15 August, also the National Day
• Nativity of Mary — 8 September
• All Saints' Day — 1 November
• Immaculate Conception — 8 December
• Christmas Day — 25 December
• St Stephen's Day — 26 December

Easter Sunday and Whit Sunday are deliberately absent: they already fall on a Sunday and need no separate status.

Seven of the 13 days have a fixed date, six depend on Easter. Easter falls on 5 April in 2026 and on 28 March in 2027 — that sets the movable days.

2026

• Thu, 1 January — New Year's Day
• Tue, 6 January — Epiphany
• Mon, 6 April — Easter Monday
• Fri, 1 May — Labour Day
• Thu, 14 May — Ascension Day
• Mon, 25 May — Whit Monday
• Thu, 4 June — Corpus Christi
• Sat, 15 August — Assumption (National Day)
• Tue, 8 September — Nativity of Mary
• Sun, 1 November — All Saints' Day
• Tue, 8 December — Immaculate Conception
• Fri, 25 December — Christmas Day
• Sat, 26 December — St Stephen's Day

2027

• Fri, 1 January — New Year's Day
• Wed, 6 January — Epiphany
• Mon, 29 March — Easter Monday
• Sat, 1 May — Labour Day
• Thu, 6 May — Ascension Day
• Mon, 17 May — Whit Monday
• Thu, 27 May — Corpus Christi
• Sun, 15 August — Assumption (National Day)
• Wed, 8 September — Nativity of Mary
• Mon, 1 November — All Saints' Day
• Wed, 8 December — Immaculate Conception
• Sat, 25 December — Christmas Day
• Sun, 26 December — St Stephen's Day

Bridge days pay off above all in 2026: New Year, Ascension and Corpus Christi fall on a Thursday, Epiphany, Nativity of Mary and Immaculate Conception on a Tuesday. One day of leave each turns them into six long weekends. In 2027 only two such bridges remain — Ascension and Corpus Christi, both on a Thursday.

The status is not a label; it carries four concrete rights. They sit in the Employment Act and apply on a holiday exactly as on a Sunday:

• Consent: your employer may not require you to work without your agreement (Art. 19 (4)).
• 100 % supplement: anyone working only temporarily on a Sunday or holiday is paid double for that time (Art. 19 (5)). In shops and petrol stations it is 50 % (Art. 27a (3)).
• Compensatory rest: up to five hours are offset by time off. Beyond that, you are owed a full free day of at least 24 consecutive hours in the week before or after (Art. 20 (2)).
• Religious service: on request, the time needed must be granted where possible (Art. 19 (6)).

One distinction matters: the Employment Act governs the ban on work and the supplement, not ordinary holiday pay. Whether a holiday you do not work is paid follows from your employment contract or a collective agreement. What else can be regulated contractually is in the employment law guide.

Then it is simply lost. The Employment Act puts holidays on a par with Sundays — but it provides no substitute day when a holiday already falls on a Saturday or Sunday. You only have a claim if your contract or a collective agreement grants one.

In 2026 this affects three days: Assumption (Saturday), All Saints' Day (Sunday) and St Stephen's Day (Saturday). In 2027 it is four — 1 May, Assumption, Christmas Day and St Stephen's Day. If you work shifts, also keep the compensatory-rest rule from the previous section in mind: it applies regardless of which weekday the holiday falls on.

Several days many people assume are holidays do not appear in Art. 18 (2) — in employment law they are ordinary working days unless agreed otherwise:

• Candlemas (2 February) and St Joseph's Day (19 March): traditionally free, but not statutory. Many collective agreements and companies grant them anyway — in full or as a half day.
• Good Friday: not a statutory holiday in Liechtenstein. In the neighbouring canton of St Gallen it is — a frequent misunderstanding among cross-border commuters.
• Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve: ordinary working days. Many companies close early out of custom, not entitlement.
• Easter Sunday and Whit Sunday: not separate holidays — they are already Sundays.

Check your collective agreement before you plan: Candlemas and St Joseph's Day in particular are regulated sector by sector in Liechtenstein and therefore differ from company to company.

Liechtenstein is level with Austria and well ahead of eastern Switzerland — a difference cross-border commuters feel directly, because both calendars apply to them at once:

• Austria: also 13 (§ 7 Working Rest Act). The lists are identical but for one day — Liechtenstein has the Nativity of Mary on 8 September, Austria has its National Day on 26 October instead. Good Friday has not been a general holiday there since 2019 either.
• Switzerland: only one at federal level — 1 August. Each canton may put at most eight further days on a par with Sundays.
• Canton of St Gallen: 9 — New Year, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Ascension, Whit Monday, National Day, All Saints, Christmas and St Stephen's Day. Four fewer than Liechtenstein.

As a commuter, the Liechtenstein calendar applies to you as soon as you work here — Good Friday is then a normal working day, while the Nativity of Mary is off. What this means for tax and social security is in the cross-border commuter guide; what is left net you can work out in the salary calculator.

Open positions by municipality are in Triesen, Vaduz and Schaan, or grouped under all jobs in Liechtenstein.