Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone is getting some time to relax and enjoy some time with their families (and eat some great food). Entering the holiday season, it is a good time to review employer’s obligations to accommodate requests for time off for holidays and best pay practices during holiday leaves. This Friday’s Five covers five reminders for employers about holiday leaves and pay:
1. California employers are not required to provide employees time off for holidays.
There is no requirement that California employers provide time off (except for religious accommodations – see below) for holidays. California’s DLSE’s website states the following:
Hours worked on holidays, Saturdays, and Sundays are treated like hours worked on any other day of the week. California law does not require that an employer provide its employees with paid holidays, that it close its business on any holiday, or that employees be given the day off for any particular holiday.
2. California employers are not required to pay for time off for holidays, nor are they required to pay additional wages if employees work on holidays.
Likewise, there is no requirement that employers pay employees extra pay or “holiday pay” for work performed on holidays. Employers can voluntarily agree to pay employees extra pay for work that is required during holidays, but these terms would be governed by policy set forth by the employer. Therefore, employers are urged to make sure their holiday pay policies are clearly set forth.
California’s legislature has proposed bills that would require certain employers to pay employees double time for work done on Thanksgiving, but none of these bills have become law. For example, the “Double Pay on the Holiday Act of 2016” proposed to require an employer to pay at least 2 times the regular rate of pay to employees at retail and grocery store establishments on Thanksgiving. None of these attempts by the legislature have been successful yet in requiring California employers to pay any extra “holiday pay.”
3. Employers must provide reasonable accommodations for employees who cannot work on certain holidays due to religious observances.
Employers need to be aware of any religious observances of their employees since employers need to provide reasonable accommodations for employees due to religious reasons. The analysis of reasonable accommodation is required is a case by case analysis based on the company’s type of business and the accommodation requested by the employee. If the employer’s operations require employees to work during normally recognized holidays, such as a restaurant, then this should be communicated to employees in the handbook or other policies and set the expectation that an essential function of the job requires work during normal holidays.
4. If an employer does pay for time off during holidays, the employer does not have to allow employees to accrue holiday paid time off.
If an employee leaves employment before the holiday arrives, the employer is not required to pay the employee for the day off. But the employer’s policy regarding holiday pay must clearly set out that this benefit does not accrue to employees and that they must be employed during the specific holidays to receive the holiday pay. Often the employer will also require that the employee works the days leading up to and following the holiday in order be eligible for the holiday pay.
5. If a pay day falls on certain holidays, and the employer is closed, the employer may process payroll on the next business day.
If an employer is closed on holidays listed in the California Government Code, then the employer may pay wages on the next business day. The DLSE’s website explains this, and other considerations, for the timing requirements for payroll.