Costa Rica holidays

Costa Rica official holidays include the following days:

January 1 – New Years Day

April – Thursday and Friday of Holy Week

April 11 – Juan Santa Maria’s Day (National hero)

May 1 – Labor Day

June 29 – Saints Peter and Paul

July 25 – Annexation of the Province of Guanacaste

August 2 – Dia of Nuestra Senora del los Angeles (Costa rica’s patron saint)

August 15 – Mother’s day

September 15 – Independence Day

October 12 – Dia de la Raza (marks Colmbus’s discovery of the New World)

December 25 – Christmas day

As of May 2005, employees have more opportunities to enjoy extended weekends throughout the year.  A new bill introduced changes of the Labor Code, now requiring employers to substitute certain holidays should they fall on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.  Should that be the case, employers are required to substitute the holiday for the following Monday.

This new rule applies to the following holidays:  April 11th, July 25th, August 15th and October 12th.

Companies that are forced to work on Mondays may, in the course of the 15 days following the holiday and with the employee’s consent, substitute the referred holidays with any other day of the work week.