Like most U.S. states, California companies are not required to pay overtime/premium pay (“holiday pay“) to employees who work on holidays. Instead, employees earn their regular rate of pay (“straight-time pay”) as they do on any other day.
There are also no legal requirements that a business:
- close on a holiday,
- give you a day off for a holiday, or
- allow you to accrue time off (paid or unpaid) if you choose to work on a holiday.
These rules apply whether you are exempt or non-exempt. However, relevant overtime pay and minimum wage laws are still in effect for non-exempt employees.
For example: Brian is scheduled to work 10 hours on Christmas for his employer in California. While he is not legally entitled to more than his regular rate of pay for the first eight hours, he is entitled to 1.5 times his normal rate for the last two hours because he is working overtime.
The only time employers have to provide holiday pay or paid time off is if one of these arrangements is promised in
- the employment contract or
- collective bargaining agreement.1
Note that many employers choose to provide holiday pay or paid time off since studies have shown that such benefits increase productivity.2
What about federal employees?
Many federal employees in the Executive branch who are working in California are legally entitled to holiday pay.3 If you are a covered worker, any hour worked on a holiday is paid at twice your regular rate of pay (double-time pay).4 This includes part-time employees.5
Not all Executive branch employees are entitled to holiday premium pay, such as elected officials and heads of departments.6
What holidays do employers recognize?
California employers often have a list of holidays that they recognize. These generally include state holidays:
- New Year’s Day (January 1)
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (third Monday in January)
- Presidents’ Day (third Monday in February)
- Cesar Chavez Day (March 31)
- Memorial Day (final Monday in May)
- Independence Day (July 4)
- Labor Day (first Monday in September)
- Veterans Day (November 11)
- Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday and Friday in November)
- Christmas Day (December 25)
Some employers may also cover other holidays, such as:
- Lincoln’s Birthday (February 12)
- Juneteenth (June 19)
- Admission Day (September 9)
- Indigenous People’s Day (fourth Friday in September)
- Columbus Day (second Monday in October)
- Christmas Eve (December 24)
- New Year’s Eve (December 31)
Saturdays and Sundays are not considered holidays. Employees who work on weekends earn straight-time pay unless their employment contract specifies otherwise.7
Although California employers are not required to provide holiday pay benefits, many do.
How Employers Handle Holidays
When employers fail to provide holiday pay, some workers choose to quit. Losing workers right before the holiday season is often a worst-case scenario for employers.
Therefore, many California employers use one of two ways to provide holiday benefits for workers. They may either:
- give you a paid day off for the holiday or
- pay a premium rate for hours worked on the holiday.8
Full-time and part-time employees are most likely to receive paid time off or holiday pay. Contract workers and temporary/season workers are less likely to receive these benefits unless their employment contract provides it.
Note that unionized workers are governed by collective bargaining agreements, which typically include policies for holiday pay or paid time off.
Paid Day Off
Employers who provide a paid day off will usually give it on the holiday itself. If the holiday falls on a weekend, then you can typically take the day off
- on the preceding Friday or
- the next Monday.
Note that California state employees can generally use eight hours of their personal holiday credit or vacation leave to take off for these holidays:
- Lunar New Year,
- Native American Day,
- Genocide Remembrance Day, or
- Juneteenth.
Premium Rate
Employers can also pay a premium rate for hours worked on a holiday. Some employers pay time-and-a-half, or 1.5 times the normal rate of pay. This is also the standard overtime rate for working more than:
- 8 hours in a workday,
- 40 hours in a workweek, or
- for the first 8 hours worked on the 7th consecutive day in a workweek.
Other employers pay double-time for holiday work, or twice the regular rate. This is also the standard overtime rate for working more than:
- 12 hours in a workday, or
- 8 hours on the 7th consecutive day in a workweek.
Still others have a company policy (set out in your employment contract) that offers a bonus if you work on a covered holiday. The extra pay generally comes on the next payday.
Employers who opt for providing holiday pay are often businesses that cannot close on holidays, like:
- restaurants,
- retail stores, or
- grocery stores.
These stores often pay a premium rate for holiday hours worked in order to incentivize you to work these high-demand hours. Some employees are willing or even eager to work during the holiday in order to earn more thanks to the extra pay.9
What can I do if I am entitled to holiday pay but not getting it?
If your employment contract or collective bargaining agreement promises extra holiday pay or a day off, but your employer is not providing it, you can file a complaint with the California Labor Board for a violation of state labor laws. This report can trigger an investigation by the Labor Commissioner’s Office.10
You can also hire a labor attorney to file a wage and hour lawsuit. This would demand compensation for the withheld wages. If many employees have been deprived of their contractually promised holiday benefits, the lawsuit can be filed as a class action.
What about religious holidays?
If you take time off for a religious holiday, California employers are not required to pay you (unless it is their policy to).
Note that California law does require employers to accommodate your religious beliefs unless it would pose an undue hardship. An example of an accommodation would be to change your schedule so you can go to your church, temple, mosque, etc., to attend a religious observance.11
What if my payday falls on a holiday?
If your payday falls on a holiday for which your office is closed, then your California employer can pay you the next business day. So if you are normally paid on Fridays – but the office is closed for New Year’s Day – then you would be paid the following Monday.12
Employers who provide holiday benefits usually either give you a paid day off or pay a premium rate.
Additional Reading
For more in-depth information, refer to these scholarly articles:
- Resolving Holiday Pay Disputes in Labor Arbitration – Case Western Reserve Law Review.
- Holidays – Pepperdine Law Review article on what holidays entitle employees to compensation.
- No-Vacation Nation Revised – Center for Economic and Policy Research survey of various countries’ holiday pay policies.
- Variations in holidays, vacations, and area pay levels – Monthly Labor Journal.
- Recent Growth of Paid Leisure for U.S. Workers – Monthly Labor Journal.
Also see our related article on Do salaried employees get holiday pay?
Legal References:
- See, for example, Advanced-Tech Security Services, Inc. v. Superior Court (
- See, for example, Shawn Achor and Michelle Gielan, “The Data-Driven Case for Vacation,” Harvard Business Review (July 13, 2016). See also Tanya Mohn, Take A Vacation: It’s Good For Productivity And The Economy, According To A New Study, Forbes (Feb 28, 2014)(“If employees would take just one additional day of earned leave each year, the result would mean $73 billion in output for the U.S. economy and positive impacts for both employees and businesses.”).
- 5 USC 104 and 5 USC 105. The Executive branch includes government departments in the Executive branch, corporations controlled or owned by the federal government, and independent establishments or agencies within the Executive branch, like the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
- 5 CFR 550.131. See also AB-67 Double Pay on the Holiday Act of 2016 (never passed).
- 5 CFR 550.131(a) and 5 CFR 550.101(a)(1).
- 5 CFR 550.101(b). Some of the other Executive employees who are not entitled to holiday pay are: employees working abroad and who are paid using local wage rates at their places of work, civilians on a Coast Guard vessel, lighthouse keepers, Senior Foreign Service members, and student employees.
- State Holidays, California Secretary of State. Holidays, Labor Commissioner’s Office.
- See, for example, note 1.
- See, for example, City of Sacramento v. Public Employees Retirement System (Court of Appeal of California, Third Appellate District, 1991) 229 Cal. App. 3d 1470. AB-2596 (2022).
- How to File a Wage Claim, California Department of Industrial Relations.
- California Workplace Religious Freedom Act of 2012 (WRFA); California Government Code 12926(q)).
- Paydays, pay periods, and the final wages, DLSE. California Government Code 6700.
