There is no federal law to pay non-exempt employees for holidays if they do not work or to pay a premium rate if they do work. Massachusetts and Rhode Island are the only states to have holiday pay laws. However, you must follow your established company policy or, in the absence of one, your past precedent.

Many companies have a policy to pay employees their regular wages if the company is closed for a holiday. It is also common to pay employees above their regular wages if they work on a holiday, which has the added benefit of helping to find employees willing to staff operations on a holiday.

Regardless of what your practice, it is critical to communicate to all employees what holidays you observe, the ones you will close, and the ones where you will be open and expect employees to work. You also need to communicate if they will receive pay for those holidays and, if some will be required to work, how scheduling will be decided for fairness.

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