Is July 4^th a paid holiday? With it falling midweek this year, the question arises of whether employees must be paid for the holiday. The often-given HR answer or, “it depends” applies here.

Some things to consider:

• If the employee is classified as non-exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act there is no requirement to pay them for holiday hours unless they are working.

• • Some companies may develop a policy and practice of paying employees for the non-worked holiday. This should be in your company handbook and applied consistently.

• Under Federal law, holiday pay does not have to be paid at double time.

• When the holiday is paid by the company it DOES NOThave to be counted as time worked in the calculation of overtime unless the employee works that day, and by doing so ends up working more than 40 hours in the week.

• If the employee is an exempt employee, they must be paid their entire salary for the week regardless if they work the holiday or not. If they do not work on the holiday their pay cannot be docked.

• Union contracts or status as a state employee will alter these requirements.

• Be mindful of specific state and local regulations that may impact how employees are paid.

This applies to other holidays that fall mid-week as well. Still unclear on what applies to your workforce? Let us help you!