Human Resource Blog

July 4, 2010

We will be celebrating the July 4, 2010 holiday on Monday July 5, 2010. If an employee works from home on July 4, 2010 must we pay them time and a half for hours worked on July 4, 2010?

This is a deceptively complex question, and it would be better if we had more detail.

However, the general answer is no, there is no federal or state law that requires employers in general industry to pay a higher rate on holidays. The only requirement is that employees be paid their usual rate for the hours worked.

This is a matter of company policy, not state or federal law. As an employer, you determine what dates (if any) are holidays. You also determine whether the business will be open on holidays and whether to pay employees for the holiday when they are off.

If this situation has not arisen before, you can set the company policy now. Many employers would give workers Monday July 5 off with pay, and consider the other 6 days that week normal work days. If the non-exempt employee works more than 40 hours in the payroll week, then he or she is entitled to overtime. However, employees are not automatically entitled to overtime or double time on any certain date.

Other employers would not permit the employee to work from home on Sunday. Still others would count Sunday as the holiday for those who are normally scheduled to work that day, and Monday as the holiday for employees who are normally off on Sunday.

Any of these policies is lawful as long as you do not single out any protected group for negative treatment.

To prevent misunderstandings, you should issue a memo at least 30 days in advance of the holiday, so employees know what to expect. Feel free to post another question with more detail, if we have not addressed your concern.