> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://absentify.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Public holidays settings
> Learn how to manage public holidays in absentify, including customizing holiday sets, assigning them to users, and enabling Outlook calendar synchronization.
The **Public holidays** feature in absentify allows you to manage and customize holiday sets for your team, ensuring accurate absence calculations and tailored configurations for employees in different regions or countries.
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## Adding a public holiday set
To create a new public holiday set:
1. Navigate to **Settings** > **Public holidays** and select **+ Add public holiday**.
2. Fill in the required details:
* **Name**: Enter a descriptive name for the holiday set (e.g., "Baden-Württemberg").
* **Country**: Select the country from the dropdown menu.
* **Region**: Select a specific region or subdivision if required.
3. Select **Save** to create the holiday set.\
The system will automatically populate public holidays for the selected country or region.
You can edit, delete, or add new entries to fully customize the holiday set based on your organization's needs.
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## Editing public holidays
You can customize an existing holiday set that was manually created by:
1. Selecting the pencil icon next to the holiday set on the **Public holidays** page.
2. Making changes such as:
* **Adding holidays**: Use the **+ Add date** option to create new holidays. Specify the name, date, and duration (full day, first half, or second half).
* **Editing holidays**: Select an entry to change its name, date, or add translations for multilingual users.
* **Deleting holidays**: Remove unnecessary holidays by selecting the trash icon next to the entry.
Translations ensure that holidays appear in the correct language for users with different language settings. Note: Adding translations and edits is only available for custom public holiday entries. Predefined holiday sets generated by absentify cannot be edited but can only be deleted entirely.
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### Adding translations
You can add or edit translations for holiday names:
1. Select a holiday from the list to open the **Edit holiday** dialog.
2. Review all languages in the scrollable list and edit the holiday name for each language as needed. Every language field is required and cannot be cleared.
3. Select **Save** to apply the translations.
This feature is only available for custom public holiday entries, not predefined sets.
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### Assigning holidays to users
To assign a holiday set to specific employees:
1. Navigate to **Settings** > **Users** and select the pencil icon next to the user you want to edit.
2. In the **Public holidays** dropdown menu, select the appropriate holiday set(s).
3. Select **Save** to apply the changes.
Assigning region-specific holiday sets ensures accurate absence calculations for employees in different locations.
You can assign holiday calendars in bulk using our API [Update a member](https://absentify.com/docs/en/api-reference/members/update-a-member).
Every user must always be assigned to exactly one public holiday set — the field cannot be left empty. If a user should not have any public holidays counted, assign them to an empty holiday set (see [Deleting a public holiday set](#deleting-a-public-holiday-set) for how to create one).
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## Deleting a public holiday set
A public holiday set **cannot be deleted while it is still assigned to users**. Because every user must always be assigned to a holiday set, you first need to move all affected users to a different set. If you try to delete a set that is still in use, absentify shows an error listing the users who are still assigned to it.
To delete a holiday set:
1. Reassign every user who currently uses the set to a different public holiday set under **Settings** > **Users** (pencil icon > **Public holidays**). See the empty-set tip below if you don't want those users to have any holidays.
2. Go to **Settings** > **Public holidays** and select the trash icon next to the holiday set.
3. Confirm the deletion.
**How to leave a user without any public holidays:** Since a user can't be saved without a holiday set, create an **empty holiday set** instead. Add a new public holiday set and then delete all of its holiday entries, so the set contains no holidays. Assign the affected users to this empty set — no public holidays will be counted for them. You can also use this empty set as the target when reassigning users so that you can delete an old set.
Existing absences that already included these holidays remain unaffected in the absence history but will no longer factor into future calculations once the set is deleted.
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## Outlook calendar synchronization for public holidays
Public holiday entries are automatically synchronized with employees’ Outlook calendars starting from the **Essentials plan** (Essentials and Plus plan).
* The synchronization process may take some time as all employees in the workspace are updated.
* Microsoft imposes limits on the number of calendar entries that can be created per tenant.
### Enabling Outlook calendar synchronization
To enable synchronization of public holidays with Outlook calendars:
1. Navigate to **Settings** > **Microsoft**.
2. Ensure that the **Outlook calendar synchronization** permission is enabled.
3. Confirm that public holidays are assigned to employees correctly.
If a holiday set is updated, the changes will be reflected in employees’ Outlook calendars automatically.
You can review and verify public holiday sync activity in the [Microsoft sync logs](/docs/en/roles/hr_admins/settings/microsoft#microsoft-sync-logs), including the synced date, holiday name, and confirmation status.
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## Handling dynamic or updated public holidays
Some countries apply flexible rules for public holidays, such as moving holidays to a nearby weekday if they fall on a weekend, or introducing new holidays by government decision.
If public holiday dates have been edited or updated, you can select **Sync with API** to refresh the calendar. This ensures that your public holiday calendar always reflects the most accurate and up-to-date dates provided by the official data source.
***
## Best practices for managing public holidays
* **Regional accuracy**: Assign correct holiday sets to employees based on their location to avoid calculation errors.
* **Custom holidays**: Add company-specific holidays, such as additional paid leave, to reflect unique organizational policies.
* **Regular reviews**: absentify updates predefined public holidays on a monthly basis. If public holidays change or adjustments are required, select **Sync with API** to refresh the data and ensure accuracy.
* **Timing matters**: Only add holiday calendars for the upcoming year at the **end** of the current year to ensure new government-announced holidays are included.
Public holidays are automatically updated to reflect new calendar years. You can manually add or adjust entries if needed for organizational purposes.