Public holidays in Morocco: the legal list

Morocco’s private sector does not follow the same holiday list as the civil service. Employees of industrial and commercial companies, liberal professions, and agricultural and forestry operations come under décret n° 2-4-426 of 29 December 2004, issued under article 217 of the Code du travail (the labour code). Public administration comes under a different and more generous text, décret n° 2-77-169 of 1977.

This guide is informational and is not legal advice. In a dispute, contact your local labour inspectorate (inspection du travail).

The private-sector list

The 2004 decree lists the days that are “fériés, chômés et rémunérés”, meaning public, non-working and paid, in the companies covered by book one of the labour code. Eight fixed civil dates, plus four moving religious festivals:

1 January is not in this decree. The 2004 text names 11 January, not the 1st. The Gregorian new year does appear on the civil-service list. Plenty of companies close on 1 January anyway, by custom or under a collective agreement, but the decree does not require it.

The Amazigh New Year, 14 January, was added to the private-sector list by décret n° 2.23.1000 of 5 December 2023, amending and supplementing the 2004 decree. We could not open the text of that amending decree on an official portal on 7 August 2026, the Secrétariat général du gouvernement site being unreachable, so the addition is reported rather than read at source.

Why the religious dates move every year

The four religious festivals follow the Hijri calendar, which is lunar and about eleven days shorter than the Gregorian year. They therefore shift roughly ten days earlier each civil year, and they cannot be fixed in advance with certainty.

In Morocco the date is announced by the Ministère des Habous et des Affaires islamiques after observation of the lunar crescent, usually the evening before, following the Maghreb prayer. Astronomical calculation gives a likely date, often right, sometimes a day out. Until the announcement comes, a religious date printed in a company calendar is a hypothesis.

The practical consequence for an HR team: do not lock a production schedule, an on-call rota or a site closure to a religious date more than a few weeks ahead. Plan for a one-day shift.

The 2026 dates

What was actually announced this year, and what is still open as of 7 August 2026:

For the fixed civil dates in 2026: 11 January fell on a Sunday, 14 January a Wednesday, 1 May a Friday, 30 July a Thursday, 14 August a Friday, 20 August a Thursday, 21 August a Friday, 6 November a Friday, 18 November a Wednesday.

Aïd al-Mawlid is the only date still open as this page goes live. We will update it after the ministry’s announcement.

How many days for the Aïd

The 2004 decree names the festivals without stating their length. In public administration the 1977 decree grants two days for Aïd al-Fitr, Aïd al-Adha and Aïd al-Mawlid, and one for 1 Muharram. In the private sector the text does not explicitly require the second day: many employers grant it by custom, by company agreement or under a collective agreement, but a private-sector employee counting on two days should check their own collective agreement rather than assume.

If you work on a public holiday

The Code du travail (loi n° 65-99) handles this across several articles.

• Article 217: an employer may not have employees work during the paid holidays whose list is set by regulation, or during public holidays.
• Article 219: an employee paid by the hour or the day receives, for the paid holiday, an allowance equal to the pay they would have received had they stayed at their post.
• Article 221: where pay is set as a flat weekly, fortnightly or monthly amount, it cannot be reduced because of a closure for a paid holiday or public holiday. A monthly-paid employee loses nothing.
• Article 224: an employer who has an employee work on a paid holiday or public holiday must pay, on top of the wage for the work done, an additional allowance equal to that wage. The day is paid double.
• Article 226: where employees are made to work in breach of article 217, the employer must pay, on top of the day’s wage, an allowance equal to 100% of that wage.

These labour-code articles were read on a reproduction of the code, the Secrétariat général du gouvernement portal being unreachable on 7 August 2026. The official text of loi n° 65-99 governs.

The civil-service list, for comparison

The Ministère de la Transition numérique et de la Réforme de l’administration publishes the list applying to state administrations, local authorities, public establishments and concessionary services, set by décret n° 2-77-169 of 28 February 1977. It runs to seventeen days across fourteen occasions:

• Religious, seven days: 1 Muharram (1 day), Aïd al-Mawlid (2 days), Aïd al-Fitr (2 days), Aïd al-Adha (2 days).
• National and civil, ten days: 1 January, 11 January, 14 January, 1 May, 30 July, 14 August, 20 August, 21 August, 6 November, 18 November.

Two differences from the private sector: 1 January, absent from the 2004 decree, and the second Aïd day, explicit for the administration.

What this guide does not cover

Weekly rest, annual paid leave and days off for family events sit in other articles of the labour code. For annual leave, see the guide to paid leave and the paid leave calculator.

Sources and verification

• Décret n° 2-4-426 of 16 kaada 1425 (29 December 2004), full text: the eight civil dates and four religious festivals, repeal of the 1962 decree, signed by Driss Jettou and countersigned by the Minister of Employment and Vocational Training. Opened on 7 August 2026 on a PDF reproduction of the Bulletin Officiel text, the sgg.gov.ma portal being unreachable that day.
• Ministère de la Transition numérique et de la Réforme de l’administration, “Horaires de travail et jours fériés” page: the seventeen civil-service days and the reference to décret n° 2-77-169. Official page opened 7 August 2026: mmsp.gov.ma.
• Ministère des Habous et des Affaires islamiques, announcement setting 1 Muharram 1448 at Wednesday 17 June 2026, read on habous.gov.ma on 7 August 2026.
• Aïd al-Fitr and Aïd al-Adha 2026 dates: ministry announcements relayed by Moroccan press and the MAP state news agency. We could not open the ministry’s own page for those two announcements, so the dates are reported rather than read at source.
• Code du travail, loi n° 65-99, articles 217, 219, 221, 224 and 226, read on a reproduction of the code.

Further reading

• Guide: annual paid leave in Morocco, a separate regime from public holidays
• Guide: understanding your Moroccan payslip, where a worked holiday shows up
• Guide: permanent, fixed-term and temporary contracts
• Labour code glossary entry
• Paid leave calculator
• Official civil-service list: mmsp.gov.ma