What Paid Holidays Are Mandatory in California? Employer Requirements, Exemptions, and Federal Worker Pay Rules

California law does not require private employers to provide paid holidays, though many offer them voluntarily for employee satisfaction. Federal employees in California may receive holiday premium pay, depending on eligibility and agency rules.

By Douglas Wade, Attorney

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. How about federal workers?

3. Which holidays are approved/recognized by employers?

4. How Companies Handle Holidays

5. If I am eligible for holiday pay but am not receiving it, what can I do?

6. What about holidays observed by religion?

7. What if a holiday falls on the day I get paid?

Introduction

California, like the majority of states in the United States, exempts businesses from paying overtime/premium pay, also known as “holiday pay,” to workers who put in extra hours on holidays. Rather, workers receive their usual salary, sometimes known as “straight-time pay,” just like they would on every other day.

What paid holidays are mandatory in California? Surprisingly, there are no laws requiring a business to:

Shut down on a holiday,
Offer you a holiday day off, or
Enable you to earn paid or unpaid time off in the event that you decide to continue working on a holiday.

Whether you are exempted or not, these requirements still apply. For non-exempt workers, applicable minimum wage and overtime compensation regulations still apply.

Example: Brian’s California employer had ten hours of labor planned for Christmas. Since he is working overtime, he is lawfully entitled to 1.5 times his regular pay rate for the final two hours, even though he has no right to more than his normal rate for the initial eight hours.

Employers are only required to offer paid time off or vacation pay if any of these benefits are specified in:

The collective bargaining contract,
Employment contract.

It should be noted that since research has demonstrated that benefits like paid time off and holiday pay boost productivity, numerous companies opt to offer them.

Still wondering: “What paid holidays are mandatory in California?” Technically, none are mandatory for private employers, but many do observe common ones voluntarily to improve employee motivation/satisfaction.

How about federal workers?

Holiday pay is legally due to many federal workers in the executive office who work in California. Any hours performed on a holiday are worth double the standard rate of payment (double-time salary) if you qualify as a covered worker. Part-time workers are included in this.

Not every employee in the executive branch, including heads of divisions and elected politicians, is eligible for holiday premium pay.

Which holidays are approved/recognized by employers?

Employers in California often maintain a calendar of holidays they observe. State holidays are typically among them:

New Year: Jan 1.
The 3^rd Monday of Jan: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
3^rd Monday of February: Presidents’ Day is held.
Cesar Chavez Day- 31 March.
Memorial Day: Memorial Day is the final Monday of May.
Independence Day, Fourth of July.
Labor Day falls on the first Monday of September.
Veterans Day which falls on November 11.
The fourth Friday and Thursday of November is Thanksgiving.
December 25, Christmas Day

Other holidays may also be observed by some employers, including:

On February 12, Lincoln’s birthday
June 19, Juneteenth
On September 9, Admission Day
The fourth Friday in September is Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
Columbus Day falls on the second Monday of October.
On the eve of Christmas (December 24).
New Year’s Eve, 31^st of December

Holidays aren’t applicable to Saturdays & Sundays. Weekend workers receive regular compensation unless their job contract states otherwise.

Many employees in California ask: “What paid holidays are mandatory in California?” The answer depends mainly on the internal policies/procedures of the company or union/employment agreements.

How Companies Handle Holidays

Some employees decide to resign when their companies do not offer holiday compensation. For firms, losing employees just before the holidays is frequently the worst-case situation.

As a result, many California companies offer their employees holiday benefits in one of two ways. They could either:

Provide you with a paid holiday day off, or
Pay a higher rate for the holiday-related hours worked.

The likelihood of receiving holiday pay or paid time off is higher for full-time and part-time workers. These perks are less likely to be provided to contract employees and seasonal/temporary employees unless specifically stated in their contract of employment.

The collective bargaining contracts that regulate unionized workers usually contain provisions for paid time off or holiday pay.

1. Paid Day Off

When an employer offers paid time off, they typically do it on the actual holiday. You can usually take the whole day off if the holiday occurs on a weekend.

The Friday before, or
Monday of the following week.

Keep in mind that state employees in California are typically permitted to take eight hours off during these holidays using their own holiday credit or holiday leave:

Lunar New Year,
Genocide Remembrance Day.
Native American Day, or
Juneteenth.

2. Premium Pay Rate

For hours performed on a holiday, employers may additionally offer a higher rate. Time-and-a-half, or 1.5 times the regular rate of compensation, is what certain employers pay. Additionally, this is the typical overtime rate for exceeding:

Eight hours a day at work,
40 hours a week at work, or
For the first eight hours on the seventh day of the week.

For holiday work, other companies pay double time, or twice the standard rate. Additionally, this is the typical overtime rate for exceeding:

A 12-hour workday, or
On the seventh day of the workweek, exceeding eight hours

Others have a corporate policy that provides a bonus for working on a covered holiday, which is outlined in your employment contract. Usually, the additional compensation is paid on the subsequent payday.

Businesses that are unable to close on holidays are frequently the ones that choose to offer holiday pay, such as:

Restaurants,
Grocery Stores, or
Retail stores.

To encourage you to put in these in-demand hours, these stores often give a higher rate for holiday time worked. Due to the additional compensation, some workers are willing—even eager—to work on holidays in order to increase their income.

In these cases, knowing “What paid holidays are mandatory in California?” can help you identify if you are being fairly compensated, even when not legally required.

If I am eligible for holiday pay but am not receiving it, what can I do?

You may file an appeal with the California Labor Board for a breach of state labor laws if the company fails to provide additional day off or holiday pay, as promised in your contract of employment or collective bargaining agreement. The Labor Commissioner’s Office may launch an investigation as a result of this report’s findings.

To bring a wage & hour case, you can also work with a labor lawyer. This would call for payment for the salaries that were withheld. A class action lawsuit may be brought if a large number of workers have been denied the holiday benefits that were guaranteed in the contract.

Still confused about “What paid holidays are mandatory in California?” Reach out to the Labor Commissioner or consult your contract for clear terms.

What about holidays observed by religion?

California companies are not obligated to pay you for time off taken on religious holidays, unless it’s their norm to do so.

Keep in mind that, unless doing so would create an unreasonable hardship, California law does compel employers to make accommodations for your religious beliefs. An instance of an accommodation might involve modifying your schedule to go to a religious observance at the mosque, temple, church, etc.

What if a holiday falls on the day I get paid?

You may receive your paycheck the following business day if it occurs on a holiday when the workplace is closed in California. You would therefore be paid on Monday of the following week if your regular pay day is Friday, but the workplace is closed on New Year’s Day.

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What Paid Holidays Are Mandatory in California? Employer Requirements, Exemptions, and Federal Worker Pay Rules

Introduction

How about federal workers?

Which holidays are approved/recognized by employers?

How Companies Handle Holidays

If I am eligible for holiday pay but am not receiving it, what can I do?

What about holidays observed by religion?

What if a holiday falls on the day I get paid?

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