Holidays: US

This Holidays policy is a best-practice time off and pay guideline that helps your organization set clear expectations for paid holidays, holiday observance days, eligibility rules (including part-time scheduling), and how holiday time interacts with overtime calculations. Since there's no single US federal law that requires private employers to provide paid holidays, a well-written policy is mostly about scalable communication and employee experience, while still supporting compliance with wage and hour rules (for example, how you define "hours worked" for overtime) and anti-discrimination and religious accommodation obligations when employees request time off for religious observances that are not on your standard holiday calendar.

The History Behind Holidays Policies in the US

Did you know US law never made paid holidays a default benefit? The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) set the baseline in 1938 for minimum wage and overtime, but it did not require employers to pay people for time not worked, including holidays. That gap pushed employers to write their own rules for who gets holiday pay, what happens when a holiday falls on a weekend, how pay works for hourly and salaried roles, and how they may interact with Paid Time Off (PTO).

Over time, wage-and-hour enforcement made the details matter. Describing eligibility and conditions became important because inconsistent holiday pay can create morale problems and, in some settings, legal risk when it bleeds into overtime calculations or regular-rate math for non-exempt employees. The FLSA generally does not treat holiday pay for time not worked as "hours worked" for overtime purposes, but bonuses and certain premium payments can affect the regular rate, so employers started documenting when holiday pay is straight time, when extra pay applies, and when an alternate day off is offered.

Federal equal employment rules also shaped modern holiday lists. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 pushed employers to take religious accommodation seriously, which made "floating" time off, PTO use, and clear request procedures a practical necessity for employees who observe days that are not on the standard calendar. More recently, Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021, and many private employers updated holiday schedules to match, partly for consistency with banks, government closures, and customer expectations. Employers now treat a written holidays policy as basic infrastructure.

Which Law is the Holidays Policy Meant to Comply With?

There's no federal law that specifically requires a Holidays policy for US-based employees. We include it anyway because it's a common best practice that answers employee FAQs and sets clear expectations, and it's a topic that's regulated in many states.

How to Write a US-Specific Holidays Policy

• Start with "why" and introduce the concept.
• Define who is eligible for paid holidays and confirm holidays are paid at the employee's regular rate.
• List the paid holidays your organization observes each year.
• Explain how your organization observes holidays that fall on weekends.
• Set the basic eligibility rule for receiving holiday pay based on working scheduled days around the holiday.
• Explain how holiday pay is calculated for part-time employees based on their scheduled hours.
• Describe what happens when employees are required to work on a holiday, including pay and the alternative benefit provided.
• Clarify how holiday hours are treated for overtime calculations.
• Address religious holidays not on the standard schedule by allowing PTO use or unpaid time off and stating your organization will consider accommodation requests.

When to Include this Policy in Your Employee Handbook

The law does not require you to publish a policy or issue a specific notice. That said, you still have to comply with the requirements that apply to you as an employer.

Even when notice isn't required, this is still the kind of policy most employers put in their handbook or otherwise publish to employees. A clearly communicated Holidays policy helps set consistent expectations, reduces payroll and compliance surprises, and supports a culture where people can take time off to celebrate or relax. If you don't include it, you'll end up explaining it ad hoc, and that's when inconsistency, resentment, and accidental noncompliance shows up. 

Other Considerations

None.

Exceptions

None.