Our company got bought out last year and one of the changes is that we don’t get paid extra for working on a holiday. We can work that day or one of the weekend days but nothing extra. I work at a nursing home that is part of a national company. Everyone I mention this to says that it doesn’t sound legal. Is holiday pay mandated by the federal government or even the state ( in this case being Oregon?) To add salt to the wound, the people making these rules don’t work holidays and get paid for it.
I’ve had a few jobs where I had to work holidays if it was my normal day to work. Never got any extra pay for them. That’s been over 30 years ago, but I can’t believe that has changed since then.
Hmm. In All Canadian provinces, AFAIK, full time workers are entitled to a day off with pay on statutory holidays, or the time-and-a-half rate if they must work plus a day off with pay. This question certainly reinforces my impression of the USA and its labour laws.
I assume from your description this can in no way be considered a public employer.
Holiday pay is not part of the US labor code. It is often part of a labor contract. Or it can be company policy, but company policy can change.
There is no mandatory holiday pay in Oregon:
Although there may be no general obligation in OR law for an employer to pay extra for holiday work, could there be a contractual obligation to so so in a specific case? The OP reports that the company she worked for use to pay extra for working on holidays but, after being bought out, has ceased to do so. SFAIK the sale of the shares in the employer company to a new owner does not, in itself, operate to terminate, amend or affect in any way the contract of employment between the company and a worker. So if it can be argued that the OP had a contractual entitlement to holiday pay, either explicit in the countract or in a term implied by custom and practice, then they still do have a right to holiday pay. To get around this the employer would either have to seek the OP’s agreement to an amendment of the contract, or would have to terminate the OP and rehire them on new terms, not including any right to holiday pay. And a termination and rehiring would (I hope!) be attended with legal protections intended to prevent employers using it simply as a device to force less favourable contract terms on workers without their agreement.
Employment contracts don’t usually spell out that kind of stuff. Holiday bonus pay (or not) is kinda like the dress code; it’s spelled out in an employee handbook, and can be changed anytime … certainly without re-writing everyone’s H.R. contract.
This is absolutely a possibility, but is not the norm. Most workers in the USA are employed under the default employment contract of employment at will, in which the terms of employment can be modified prospectively at any time.
The way you seek an at-will employee’s agreement to an amendment of their contract is simply to notify them of the new terms. They agree by continuing to work, or disagree by quitting. (In theory, this works the other way as well. In practice…)
lol nope.
The store I work at is owned by Orthodox Jewish men. Working on December 25th is strictly voluntary, and you get double pay if you sign up.
I always sign up for the whole day. This year December 25th is a Friday and with the mandated closing two hours before sundown, I’d be willing to work the whole day for free. It’s going to be an incredible experience.
Company policies can be changed at any time. No defacto contract is created. Just as employees generally can be fired at will, in the US.
Thanks for the help.
Huh?
I am of the understanding that companies that employ over a certain amount of people have to pay a certain number of holidays.
We have two floating holidays at my work. I was told they added those two floating holidays to be in compliance with the law.
If your understanding is correct, then it is related to a state or local law that is outside of the norm.
If you do not work on the holiday, do you get a paid holiday? If so, that sounds pretty dodgy. i.e. by working, you get rooked out of a paid day off.
If you don’t work, and get nothing, then I don’t see the issue. There’s no federal law mandating that companies give paid holidays, to the best of my understanding.
40+ years ago, I worked at a retail store one summer while in college. I didn’t work on Memorial day, and the next day my coworkers told me that if I had, I’d have gotten time and a half pay. I thought “woohoo, sign me up” and volunteered to work on Independence Day.
Then I got my pay, and found that I’d gotten holiday pay for Memorial Day (just regular time). So I’d volunteered to work, for time and a half… basically getting paid half of minimum wage since I’d have gotten the holiday pay without needing to work otherwise.
I have never heard of a federal law requiring any holiday pay. Your company might be subject to state or city laws. Or it might be because some of the employees are covered under a union contract and receive holiday pay and the company is granting it to the non union employees to head off any possible discrimination law suit.