Monday, August 31 is a national holiday in Costa Rica. Plan for a three-day weekend, closed government offices, and a payroll question if you employ anyone. August 31 is the DÃa de la Persona Negra y la Cultura Afrocostarricense, and it has been a holiday since 2021, but it has always landed on a weekend or been shifted to one. This year it falls on a Monday and stays there. It is the first time since the date entered the Labor Code that it will be taken on a regular working day.
That matters most if you have a household employee, a gardener, a nanny, or staff at a small business. The rules are not complicated, but they are not intuitive either. August 31 is what the Labor Code calls a holiday of non-obligatory pay. There are only three of these in the year — this one, August 2, and December 1. Everything else on the holiday calendar is obligatory pay. The distinction changes what you owe.
If the person you employ is paid monthly or twice a month, their salary already includes this day. They do not work, and you pay them the same as always. If they do work, you owe them one additional day’s wage on top, which comes to double pay for the day. If they are paid weekly, daily, or by the hour, the rule flips. If they do not work, you are not required to pay for the day at all. If they do work, you pay a normal day’s wage — not double. Overtime that day is paid at time and a half.
Two other points are worth knowing. Nobody can be required to work a holiday. If your employee declines, you cannot penalize them for it, and there are limited exceptions only for jobs that by their nature cannot stop. And any agreement in which someone signs away their right to the holiday is void — it does not matter that both sides agreed to it. The Labor Code voids it outright.
None of this depends on where your company is registered. If the person is employed in Costa Rica, the holiday applies. On the road, Monday is easier than usual. San José’s plate restriction is suspended for the day, so the rule that would normally keep plates ending in 1 and 2 out of the downtown core and off the Circunvalación between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. does not apply. Expect more traffic in the center as a result. The restriction returns Tuesday, September 1, for plates ending in 3 and 4.
Government offices and most bank branches close on national holidays, so if you have a residency filing, a Migración appointment, or anything at a public counter, Monday is not available to you. Two working days are left this week. If you have been putting off an errand at a government window, tomorrow is effectively your deadline until Tuesday.
The day itself closes out what Costa Rica marks as Afro-descendant history month. The center of it is in Limón, where the Grand Gala Parade has run most years since 1999 — floats, calypso and reggae, and formal dress that carries real historical weight rather than being costume.
It was declared part of Costa Rica’s intangible cultural heritage in 2022 and in past years it has started late morning at Parque AsÃs Esna and worked through the center of town over several hours. Confirm this year’s route and start time with the Municipalidad de Limón before you travel, since the schedule is set locally and has shifted between years.
If Limón is your destination, check the weather and the road before you commit. The Caribbean slope is under orange alert, a second tropical wave is forecast for the weekend, and Route 32 has closed repeatedly this month on short notice.
August 31 was written into law to recognize a community whose labor built the railway between San José and the Caribbean and whose culture shaped a province. That it now falls on a Monday, and is being taken as a full working-day holiday rather than folded into a weekend, is a small change with a real effect on how visible the day is.
