Holiday Pay
What is holiday pay and are employers required to provide it?
Holiday pay is additional compensation or paid time off given to employees for designated holidays. Under federal law (the FLSA), holiday pay is not required for private-sector employers. It is a discretionary benefit. Federal employees have statutory holiday pay entitlements under 5 U.S.C. 6103. Most private employers offer some form of holiday benefit (paid time off on major holidays, premium pay for employees who work on holidays, or both), but the specifics vary widely by industry and employer.
Holiday pay is one of those benefits employees assume is mandatory and employers know is not. The FLSA does not require private-sector holiday pay, either as paid time off or as premium pay for hours worked on holidays. That's left to each employer's policy. Federal civilian employees have statutory entitlements under 5 U.S.C. 6103, and some state laws create narrow requirements (Massachusetts and Rhode Island have specific Sunday and holiday premium pay rules for retail). Otherwise, the policy landscape is entirely shaped by employer choice, industry norms, and collective bargaining.
What Most Private Employers Actually Offer
BLS Employee Benefits Survey data shows roughly 80% of private-sector full-time workers receive paid holidays as a benefit, with the average number of paid holidays ranging from 7 to 10 per year. Common holidays include New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving (often two days), and Christmas Day. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents Day, Veterans Day, Juneteenth, and Indigenous Peoples Day are growing in corporate calendars.
Holiday Premium Pay for Hours Worked
Employers who require employees to work on a holiday often pay a premium (time-and-a-half or double-time) even though no federal law requires it. This is particularly common in retail, hospitality, healthcare, and manufacturing. The premium is treated as ordinary wages for FICA and income tax purposes and must be included in the regular rate for overtime calculations.
Holiday Pay and FLSA Regular Rate Calculations
When holiday premiums are paid as part of wages, they generally need to be included in the regular rate for overtime calculations. One narrow exception in FLSA rules allows payments for idle time (true paid holidays when no work is performed) to be excluded, but premium pay for hours worked on a holiday is generally included. Miscategorizing holiday premiums is a recurring DOL wage-and-hour enforcement target.
Setting a Clear Holiday Pay Policy Across Your Workforce
A clean holiday pay policy lists which days are paid holidays, who is eligible (full-time, part-time, probationary), how premium pay works for required work, and how the policy handles floating holidays. Align with payroll system configuration so holiday pay flows correctly into W-2 reporting and overtime calculations. For compensation benchmarking, compare holiday benefits against industry peers because this is a visible differentiator candidates evaluate. DOL FLSA holiday pay reference: dol.gov/general/topic/workhours/holidays.
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