Holiday Pay

Leslie

My company runs seven days per week, 24 hours per day. We pay holiday pay to non-exempt employees for seven holidays per year only if the holiday is worked. Our policy and procedure states: "An hourly employee who works from 12:00 a.m. through 11:59 p.m. on the designated holiday will receive their base wage for hours woked plus an amount equal to their base pay for hours worked as holiday pay during the 24 hour period." The controller has decided that holiday pay will only be given to a maximum of eight hours. This means that employees who work during the holiday receive base pay only for any hours worked over eight. Can we hit a wall on this one?

Gary Jiles AR

Provided the employee receives at least minimum wage for hours worked and 1.5 times for overtime, you have no problems. Remember that holiday pay does not have to be counted for overtime purposes, i.e., you do not pay overtime on holiday pay. You only pay for hours actually worked. Therefore, if any employee works 10 hours on a holiday, you pay only for those 10 hours. If you want to pay any extra monies for the holiday work, that is up to you.

Gary D. Jiles
Editor
Arkansas Employment Law Letter
Jack, Lyon & Jones, P.A.
3400 TCBY Tower
425 West Capitol Avenue
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201
(501) 375-1133
[email]gdj@jlj.com[/email]