Is 18 August 2026 a collective leave day? Here are the provisions
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The public needs to note the holiday calendar after the commemoration of the 81st anniversary of Indonesian independence. It should be noted that Tuesday, 18 August 2026, is not designated as a national holiday or collective leave day.
This provision refers to the Joint Decree of the Three Ministers on National Holidays and Collective Leave for 2026, which serves as the guideline for this year’s national holiday calendar.
Based on the list established by the government, 17 August 2026 is a national holiday to commemorate the Independence Day of the Republic of Indonesia.
Meanwhile, 18 August 2026 is not included in the collective leave list. Therefore, that date is essentially a regular working day for the public who follow the national working calendar.
The government has designated a number of dates as collective leave in 2026. The collective leave is spread across several religious celebrations and major national holidays.
The designated collective leave dates include 16 February, 18 March, 20 March, 23 March, 24 March, 25 March, 15 May, and 28 May 2026.
There is no 18 August date on that list. Therefore, the public does not receive an additional national holiday after the Independence Day commemoration on 17 August.
For civil servants, the collective leave provisions are also established through separate regulations. Civil servant collective leave follows the applicable government provisions.
Because 18 August is not designated as collective leave, civil servants essentially return to their official duties as usual on that date, unless there are special provisions or policies from their respective agencies.
The public can still take leave on 18 August if they meet the requirements at their respective workplaces.
For private sector workers, leave applications follow company policy and applicable labour regulations. Meanwhile, for civil servants, leave applications follow the civil service regulations applicable in government agencies.
This means that a person can still obtain a day off on 18 August through personal leave, but that date is not a collective leave day established by the government.
With 17 August as the only national holiday in that period, members of the public who wish to have a longer holiday need to apply for personal leave on the following working day.
However, leave approval still depends on the policy of the respective company or agency.
Thus, 18 August 2026 is not a collective leave day and not a national holiday. The public needs to return to their normal activities after the 81st Indonesian Independence Day holiday on 17 August, unless they have personal leave or a special policy from their workplace, according to the Ministry of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform and other sources.