California Holiday Pay Law

Holiday pay is not required by law in California.

Holiday pay is common throughout the United States, and in some states is even required by law. California law, however, differs significantly from that of some other states and, in general, allows employers to adopt their own policies with regard to days off for holidays and compensation for holidays worked.

General

According to the California Department of Industrial Relations, "Hours worked on holidays, Saturdays and Sundays are treated like hours worked on any other day of the week." Therefore, California law does not stipulate that employers must provide holiday pay for employees who work on holidays. In accordance with the law, employers can pay employees their normal hourly wage for working on holidays, and are not required to provide any additional compensation for salaried employees who work on holidays.

Significance

The California Department of Industrial Relations specifies that "California law does not require that an employer provide its employees with paid holidays." This legislation not only allows for employers to require employees to work on holidays, but also gives employers the option of not compensating employees for any holiday on which they do not work. Consequently, employers can close work on any holiday without paying employees.

Further Specifications

California legislation states that it does not require that any employer "close its business on any holiday, or that employees be given the day off for any particular holiday." Thus, California employers are allowed to require employees to work on any holiday, including U.S. federal holidays. For example, employers have the power to schedule Christmas, Thanksgiving and other holidays as regular work days for which the employee must report to work without receiving additional compensation.

Considerations

However, California law does mandate an "overtime premium" that is "required for work performed in excess of eight hours in a workday or 40 hours in a workweek." If the holiday worked is in addition to the regular 40-hour workweek or the hours worked on the holiday exceed eight hours, the overtime premium must be paid for the extra hours.

Employer Choice

In California, any premium holiday compensation, whether in the form of additional pay for hours worked on a holiday or pay for a holiday not worked, results from the employer's policy and is not mandated by law. Employers have the choice of whether employees will receive holiday pay. Moreover, employers also decide whether employees are required to work on holidays; any holidays off are given at the employer's liberty, not because of California legislation.

References

• California Department of Industrial Relations: Holidays
• California Department of Industrial Relations: Division of Labor Standards Enforcement Glossary