How do I handle HR during the Thingyan break?

What this looks like in practice

Thingyan (the Myanmar Water Festival, mid-April) is the biggest holiday of the year. The President's Office gazettes typically 4–5 paid public holidays for Thingyan plus the Myanmar New Year, with exact dates announced annually (2026 typical: 13–17 April). The Leave & Holidays Act treats them as paid days off; the Factories Act 1951 and S&E Act require 3x basic pay for any work performed on a gazetted holiday. Many Myanmar businesses extend full closure to 7–10 days.

Step-by-step setup

1. Check the gazette 30 days ahead for the year's exact Thingyan dates.
2. Decide closure scope — gazetted-only vs full week. Factories often run gazetted-only with skeleton crew; offices and retail often close full week.
3. Plan rosters if any operations continue — voluntary OT, 3x basic for hours worked on gazetted days, OT register documented.
4. Communicate to employees 30 days ahead — closure dates, who works which days, holiday-rate pay treatment.
5. Pay monthly salaried staff in full for closure period; daily-wage staff are paid only for days worked.
6. Treat any non-gazetted days off as annual leave (10 days/year per Leave Act) with mutual agreement.
7. File PIT and SSB returns by 15 April regardless — Thingyan does not extend deadlines.

Tools, templates and costs

• Closure announcement: 30 days ahead via formal notice and HRMS calendar.
• Skeleton-crew incentive: 3x statutory + voluntary bonus typical (e.g., MMK 50,000–150,000 per shift).
• Pre-Thingyan payroll run: pay early to avoid delays; common practice is paying by the 7th April for April wages.
• Templates: Thingyan closure notice, voluntary OT authorisation, 3x pay calc, annual-leave application for extension days.

Operations that continue through Thingyan

Hospitality, healthcare, security, utilities and certain export-oriented factories continue to operate through Thingyan. For continuing operations, OT register, 3x basic pay, voluntary OT authorisation and bonus communications are all critical. Brand audits later in the year scrutinise Thingyan attendance and payroll closely — keep the documentation tight.

Pitfalls to avoid

• Working through gazetted Thingyan without 3x pay — Factories Act/S&E Act violation.
• Treating extension days as undocumented paid leave — should be annual leave with mutual agreement.
• Missing 15 April PIT/SSB remittance — penalty interest applies.
• Late closure announcement — staff dispute and short-notice childcare/transport issues.
• No attendance log for skeleton crew — brand-audit finding later.

Related: hotel HR, seasonal HR, and pay during outage.