With the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays approaching, workers required to stay on the job need clarity on how overtime pay is calculated. Which specific days qualify for triple wages, and does that triple rate already include your base salary? Let's break down the essentials.

According to the State Council General Office's notice on 2026 holiday arrangements, the Mid-Autumn Festival runs from Friday, September 25 through Sunday, September 27, totaling three days off. The National Day holiday spans from Thursday, October 1 to Wednesday, October 7, with seven days of leave after adjusted scheduling.

Starting with the legal foundation, Article 44 of the PRC Labor Law stipulates that employers must pay above-standard wages under three conditions. First, for extended work hours on regular workdays, pay no less than 150% of normal wages. Second, for work on rest days without compensatory time off, pay no less than 200% of normal wages. Third, for work on statutory holidays, pay no less than 300% of normal wages.

Which days specifically trigger the triple pay rate? Per the national regulations on holidays and memorial days, the combined holiday period includes four statutory holidays: one day for Mid-Autumn Festival on September 25, plus three days for National Day on October 1, 2, and 3. If employers schedule work on these dates, they must pay no less than 300% of the worker's daily wage.

Which days qualify for double pay? September 26-27 and October 4-7 are designated rest days. When employers require work on these days without offering compensatory time off, they must pay at least 200% of the daily wage.

Let's clarify the calculation formulas. Triple daily wage equals monthly salary divided by the monthly paid days (21.75 days), multiplied by 300%. Double daily wage uses the same base but multiplied by 200%. The monthly paid days figure derives from subtracting 104 rest days from 365 annual days, then dividing by 12 months, yielding 21.75.

A critical question arises: does the triple pay include your regular salary? According to a circular from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, enterprises that legally arrange work on statutory holidays must pay an additional amount equivalent to no less than 300% of the worker's daily or hourly wage as stipulated in the labor contract. In practice, this means on top of the normal 100% daily wage, employers pay an extra 300%, bringing the total to 400% of your daily income for that day.

Can employers substitute compensatory time off instead of paying triple wages for statutory holidays? For overtime on regular workdays or rest days, employers can negotiate with workers to arrange compensatory leave or pay overtime wages. However, for statutory holidays, employers must pay triple wages and cannot replace this obligation with compensatory time off.

What should you do if overtime pay is withheld or underpaid? Affected workers should first preserve all evidence of their overtime work. They can then call the 12351 hotline for the Federation of Trade Unions' employee service, the 12333 hotline for labor inspection authorities, or the 12348 hotline for judicial departments to seek assistance. In cases where disputes arise over overtime payment, workers can file complaints with the local labor dispute arbitration committee to request a ruling requiring the employer to pay overtime wages and compensation.

Meanwhile, multiple regions have raised minimum wage standards, which directly impacts the calculation of base salaries, overtime pay, sick leave wages, probationary wages, and unemployment insurance benefits. Starting in September, new minimum wage standards have taken effect in Guangdong, Yunnan, and other provinces. Guangdong has uniformly raised its minimum wage tiers for both full-time and part-time workers. Yunnan has implemented differentiated increases across three regional categories: in first-tier areas, the monthly minimum wage rises from 2,170 yuan to 2,270 yuan, with hourly rates from 21 yuan to 22 yuan; in second-tier areas, the monthly figure increases from 2,020 yuan to 2,120 yuan, with hourly rates from 20 yuan to 21 yuan; in third-tier areas, the monthly minimum climbs from 1,870 yuan to 1,970 yuan, with hourly rates from 19 yuan to 20 yuan.

Shanxi has also adjusted its minimum wage standards across three categories, effective October 1, 2026. For full-time workers, monthly minimum wages are set at 2,350 yuan for first-tier, 2,250 yuan for second-tier, and 2,150 yuan for third-tier areas. The corresponding hourly minimum wages for full-time workers are 13.5 yuan, 12.9 yuan, and 12.4 yuan respectively. For part-time workers, hourly minimum wages are set at 25.3 yuan for first-tier, 24.2 yuan for second-tier, and 23.3 yuan for third-tier areas.

Xinjiang will also adjust its minimum wage standards starting October 1, 2026. After the adjustment, monthly minimum wages for full-time workers across three tiers will be 2,270 yuan, 2,080 yuan, and 1,930 yuan respectively. Hourly minimum wages for part-time workers across the three tiers will be 22.7 yuan, 20.8 yuan, and 19.3 yuan.

An important reminder: probationary wages, piece-rate base pay, and overtime wage bases must not fall below the local minimum wage standard.

Beyond overtime pay, several other financial benefits deserve your attention. The policy allowing tax refunds for home trade-ins has been extended. Under the renewed program, taxpayers who sell their own residential property and purchase a new home in the same city within one year between January 1, 2026, and December 31, 2027, can apply for a refund of the individual income tax already paid on the sale.

Several subsidies remain available for application until year-end. The National Health Commission and the Ministry of Finance have issued a joint notice extending the application deadline for first-child care subsidies for infants born between 2022 and 2024 to December 31, 2026. The national base standard is 3,600 yuan per child per year, paid until the child turns three years old. For infants born during 2022-2024, subsidy amounts are calculated proportionally based on the number of eligible months.

Additionally, four government departments, including the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, have jointly announced that three employment-benefit policies will be extended through the end of 2026: the unemployment stabilization refund, the job expansion subsidy, and the skill enhancement allowance.