Holiday Pay & Worked Hours - Illinois!
HR Mouse
53 Posts
Our company is closed on Monday - 5/26/08 (for Memorial Day). My boss wants our department to work since we are so backed up & behind. Our Employee Handbook & Holiday Pay Policy does not state anything about being paid extra (ie: time and a half or double time) if you work on a Paid Company Holiday. What is the law for that? If we work on Monday would we be entitled to more money? We are all hourly employees and would be receiving 8.0 Regular Hours for Monday if we did not work.
Other companies I have worked for had company policies stating you would receive double time for any hours worked on a Paid Company Holiday, but since we don't have that anywhere in our Policies I am not sure what the law(s) require.
Help!
Comments
Federal law doesn't address this. Because paid holidays are a benefit your company provides, they can legally pay employees 40 hours worked and 8 hours holiday - all at straight time. Whether a company pays double time is a company specific policy. You may want to see if your employer will let you take the holiday at another time. We are a bank that remains open on 4 of our holidays. If an employee works that particular day they are given another day off for the holiday at a later date.
Although federal law is neutral on this topic, you should also see if your state has any laws in this regard.
In an effort of goodwill to your EEs, I would suggest to your boss that you offer a Comp Day or 1.5x the hourly rate (maybe even 1.5 Comp Days). Just my $0.02. Good luck.
I agree with the others that no extra wages are required (unless it causes them to go over 40 worked hours in their workweek). Actually the employer doesn't even legally have to give the holiday on another day.
That said, when we had to work Good Friday, we gave each employee that worked an extra 8 hours in their vacation bank to make up for it. Both exempts and non-exempts. We also brought in drinks and lunch that day provided by the employer. It stunk to work on a holiday, but we were all willing to do so because we knew the work had to be done and in the past the employer has been generous with timeoff. So yes, I would do something extra for the employees that worked.