With another holiday approaching and more to follow, some private-sector employers may believe they are required by law to provide their employees with either paid or unpaid holiday pay. Well, they are not. No California or federal law mandates that an employer must close its business on any particular day, if at all. Every employer may select which days, if any, it chooses to be open and closed for business. If an employer closes its business on holidays and gives its employees time off from work with pay, it is done so simply as a result of (1) a company policy or practice, (2) the terms of a collective bargaining agreement, or (3) the terms of an employment agreement between the employer and employee.
Moreover, if the employer does stay open on a holiday and schedules its employees to work that day, the employer is not obligated to pay the employees anything but their regular pay and any overtime premium for all overtime hours worked. For example, if an employee works 8 hours on the Memorial Day holiday, and then works a total of 40 hours during that workweek, the employer is not required to pay the employee a special premium for working the holiday. Accordingly, if you give your employees holidays off with pay, they should be grateful for this discretionary and generous benefit.
If you have any questions regarding holiday leave or need additional information, please check out my website at www.employment-law.net or contact me for a FREE confidential consultation at (916) 333-4653 or Stephen_Fiegel_Esq@comcast.net.