Holiday Pay

Forum2

An employee returned to work from FMLA on Tuesday, January 17, 2006. I resumed her pay effective that date. She now wants pay for the January 16th holiday because her doctor's note indicated that she was able to return to work effective 1/16/06. There is nothing specific in our handbook regarding this.
Please let me know if you think we are obligated to pay her. Thank you.

ray a

Many company's policies stipulate an employee must work or receive paid time off for the day immediately preceeding and following the holiday to qualify for holiday pay. If your policy doesn't make that requirement, the ee has a good case for getting paid since she was able to work that day but was unable to because you were closed. Personally, I would pay her.

Forum2

Thanks. I appreciate the quick responses.

Geno

I don't know if you are obligated to pay her or not either because, as you say, "there is nothing specific in our handbook regarding this." That will change real soon I hope.

You might want to do a little research to see if has happened before. If a similar situation has occurred in the past and you paid the holiday, you sort of don't have a lot of options -- you should pay.

Absent that, you can either pay her for the holiday and establish a policy to prevent it from happening again, or you can establish the policy and not pay her and see how much fight she is willing to put into it. If you haven’t paid others under similar circumstances you should prevail.

We (and others I'm sure) use language along the lines of "entitlement to holiday pay is limited to employees who are scheduled to work and have worked the day before and the day after the holiday...."

Other posters will give you some other good
examples of holiday eligibility language.

Geno

jmcaa

If there is nothing specific in your handbook, then you are obligated to pay her as if she worked the preceding Friday otherwise you are penalizing her for taking FMLA.

pork1

One out on an approved holiday with an approved leave of any kind will get the holiday pay in our company. Without a written policy then you must follow precedence and logic. Lean toward the employee.

PORK