HOUSTON, Texas. It’s the holiday season. For some workers, this means added time off, while for others, especially those in deliveries and retail, this is the time of year where workers will likely need to put in some overtime. If you are off during the holiday, is your company entitled to cut your pay for the days off? And if you need to work during the holiday, are you entitled to time-and-a-half overtime pay?
Whether you’ll be entitled to receive overtime can get complicated. If you are a salaried or exempt worker, your company is not entitled to cut your weekly pay because the office was closed on Christmas or New Year’s. According to CBS News, if you are a salaried worker, your employer can risk losing exempt status for paying for overtime if it doesn’t pay you for holidays. However, CBS News reports that you could be required to use your paid vacation time off to take the days off during the holidays, especially if the office won’t be closed.
If you are not a salaried or exempt worker, the bad news is that your company isn’t required to pay you time-and-a-half for working through the holiday. However, for some industries, like retail and deliveries, workers might be asked to work more than a 40-hour week. If you do the math and find that you are being asked to work over 40 hours over the holidays, you may be entitled to receive time-and-a-half pay for every hour over the 40-hour limit you work.
The bottom line is this: while many companies offer time-and-a-half pay to workers who come in on Christmas and New Year’s, companies are not required by law to pay overtime for these days worked.
So, whether you’ll get paid overtime, be required to work the holiday, or get time off depends largely on where you work. According to the Balance, the federal government does pay its workers for time off during ten holidays, including New Year’s and Christmas.
If you are required to work during a holiday, this is likely because your company’s normal business hours require holiday work. In some cases, workers might negotiate extra pay if they have to come in to the office or workers will take turns coming in on different holidays so everyone has time off. Other companies provide incentives to workers who come in for the holiday.
At the end of the day, unless you are working more than 40 hours during holiday weeks, you won’t be entitled to overtime pay. However, you can always speak to your employer if you plan to work the holidays to see if you can negotiate added pay if you are an hourly worker.
Moore & Associates are employment law attorneys in Houston, Texas who wish everyone a happy holiday and a wonderful new year. If you have questions about employment law or worker’s rights in the new year, visit us at https://www.mooreandassociates.net/ to learn more.
Moore & Associates
440 Louisiana Street, Suite 675
Houston, TX 77002
713-581-9001
