Question 1

What is time-and-a-half holiday pay?

Accepted Answer

Time-and-a-half holiday pay is a premium rate equal to 1.5 times an employee's regular rate of pay, applied to hours worked on a designated holiday. No federal law mandates it. It is typically required by employer policy, a collective bargaining agreement, or state law. For a deeper explanation of how this rate applies across different pay structures, see how to calculate overtime pay.

Question 2

What is double-time-and-a-half on holidays?

Accepted Answer

Double-time-and-a-half means an employee earns 2.5 times their regular rate. This combines a 2x double-time overtime premium with a 0.5x holiday premium applied simultaneously. The scenario arises most often in California, where daily double time kicks in after 12 hours worked and the employee also qualifies for holiday premium pay under employer policy.

Question 3

Does PTO count as hours worked for overtime purposes?

Accepted Answer

No. Under FLSA (29 CFR § 778.218), paid time off is not counted as hours worked when calculating the 40-hour overtime threshold. An employee who takes 8 hours of PTO and works 36 hours has worked only 36 hours for FLSA purposes. However, some employers voluntarily adopt policies that count PTO toward overtime eligibility. Check your employer's policy, because the answer depends on whether you are applying the federal baseline or a more generous company rule.

Question 4

What is the difference between holiday pay and overtime pay?

Accepted Answer

Overtime pay is legally required under FLSA once an employee works more than 40 hours in a workweek, at a minimum rate of 1.5x regular pay. Holiday pay is a premium for working on a designated holiday and is not federally mandated. It is governed by employer policy or state law. Both can apply simultaneously when an employee works overtime hours on a holiday. For more on overtime rules, see how to calculate overtime pay.

Question 5

Does federal law require overtime pay on public holidays?

Accepted Answer

No. The Fair Labor Standards Act does not require employers to pay a premium rate simply because a day is a public holiday. The U.S. Department of Labor confirms that holiday pay is a matter of employer policy, not federal mandate. Overtime is still owed if total hours worked exceed 40 in the workweek, regardless of whether a holiday falls in that week.

Question 6

Does holiday pay count toward the 40-hour overtime threshold under FLSA?

Accepted Answer

No. Under 29 CFR § 778.218, holiday pay for a day not worked is excluded from the FLSA "hours worked" calculation. An employee paid for a holiday but physically absent that day has not worked those hours, so they do not count toward the 40-hour threshold that triggers overtime. This distinction is one of the most common sources of payroll miscalculation during holiday weeks.

Question 7

Is it mandatory to pay double time on holidays under federal law?

Accepted Answer

No. Federal law sets no double-time requirement for holidays or any other day. FLSA requires only 1.5x pay for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. Double-time obligations arise from state law (notably California), collective bargaining agreements, or voluntary employer policy. If your company pays double time on holidays, that obligation comes from your own policy or contract, not from a federal statute.

Question 8

How does sick pay interact with overtime under FLSA?

Accepted Answer

Paid sick leave is excluded from FLSA hours-worked calculations under 29 CFR § 778.218, the same rule that governs PTO and vacation pay. An employee who uses sick time in a workweek does not have those hours counted toward the 40-hour overtime threshold. States with mandatory paid sick leave laws may have additional nuances, so check your state's labor code for specifics beyond the federal baseline.

Question 9

Can an employee use PTO to push their hours into overtime?

Accepted Answer

Not under FLSA. Because PTO hours are not "hours worked," they cannot push an employee's total over the 40-hour overtime threshold for federal purposes. However, an employer may voluntarily adopt a policy that counts PTO toward overtime eligibility. In that case, the employer's own policy controls. EasyClocking by WorkEasy Software can be configured to apply either rule, depending on how your pay codes and overtime thresholds are set up.

Question 10

Does PTO count toward overtime in California?

Accepted Answer

No. California follows the same FLSA exclusion: PTO is not counted as hours worked for overtime purposes. California's overtime rules are stricter than federal law (daily overtime after 8 hours, double time after 12), but those thresholds apply only to hours actually worked. An employee who uses PTO on Monday and works 9 hours on Tuesday earns daily overtime for the ninth hour on Tuesday, but the PTO hours do not add to the weekly total for overtime purposes.

Question 11

How does California handle holiday pay and overtime in the same workweek?

Accepted Answer

California requires overtime after 8 hours worked in a day and double time after 12. These thresholds apply to hours worked on the holiday itself. If an employer also pays a holiday premium, both the overtime rate and the holiday premium can stack. For example, an employee working 10 hours on a holiday in California would owe daily overtime for hours 9 and 10, plus any holiday premium the employer's policy provides. See wage and hour compliance for multi-state employers for more on California's daily overtime structure.

Question 12

Does California require double time on holidays?

Accepted Answer

California Labor Code § 510 requires double time only when an employee works more than 12 hours in a single day or more than 8 hours on the seventh consecutive day of a workweek. A holiday alone does not trigger double time. The hours-worked threshold must also be met. If your employees regularly work long shifts on holidays, the double-time trigger is the shift length, not the holiday designation.

Question 13

How do weekend overtime pay rates work?

Accepted Answer

Under FLSA, weekend work carries no automatic premium. Overtime is owed only when total weekly hours exceed 40, regardless of which days they fall on. California adds a seventh-consecutive-day rule: the first 8 hours on day seven of a workweek are paid at 1.5x, and hours beyond 8 at 2x. Any weekend premium beyond these legal requirements comes from employer policy or a collective bargaining agreement.

Question 14

How do you calculate holiday pay when an employee also works overtime that week?

Accepted Answer

First, calculate total hours actually worked, excluding the holiday if it was not worked. If worked hours exceed 40, apply 1.5x to the excess. Then add any holiday premium separately per employer policy. The two calculations are independent. The regular rate of pay must account for all non-excludable remuneration under 29 CFR § 778.207, which can affect the overtime base when multiple pay codes are in play.

Question 15

What is the correct rate when an employee works overtime on a holiday?

Accepted Answer

The correct rate depends on two independent obligations: FLSA overtime (1.5x regular rate for hours over 40) and any applicable holiday premium set by employer policy or state law. These obligations stack. An employee working their 45th hour on a holiday may be owed both the overtime premium and the holiday premium simultaneously, applied to the same hours. The specific combined rate depends entirely on your company's holiday pay policy.

Question 16

How does vacation pay interact with overtime in the same workweek?

Accepted Answer

Vacation pay, like PTO and sick time, is excluded from FLSA hours-worked calculations under 29 CFR § 778.218. An employee who takes two vacation days and works four days has worked only those four days for overtime purposes. Overtime is owed only if the actual days worked push total hours past 40 in the workweek. This applies uniformly across all paid-leave types under the federal rule.

Question 17

Can payroll software automatically apply the correct overtime rate during a holiday week?

Accepted Answer

Yes. EasyClocking by WorkEasy Software uses a rule-based pay-code engine that lets administrators define holiday calendars, premium rates, and overtime thresholds once. The system then applies the correct stacked rate automatically each pay period, including handling California daily overtime alongside federal weekly rules in the same employee profile. This eliminates the manual reconciliation step that causes most overtime calculation errors during holiday weeks. For details on how the platform handles payroll integration and exports, see the integrations page.

Question 18

Can payroll software distinguish between hours worked and paid-but-not-worked hours for overtime?

Accepted Answer

Yes. EasyClocking by WorkEasy Software classifies every pay code as either "hours worked" or "paid leave" at setup, so the system automatically excludes PTO, sick time, and holiday pay from the FLSA hours-worked total while still including them in gross pay. This distinction is what prevents the most common overtime miscalculation: treating paid-but-not-worked hours as if they count toward the 40-hour threshold.

Question 19

How does payroll automation handle overtime and leave across multiple jurisdictions?

Accepted Answer

EasyClocking by WorkEasy Software applies the correct overtime ruleset per employee work location. For employees in California, the system runs daily thresholds (8-hour and 12-hour) and FLSA weekly thresholds simultaneously. For employees in federal-only states, it applies the 40-hour weekly rule. This matters most for companies with employees who work across state lines in a single pay period, where a single overtime rule would produce incorrect paychecks. For more on multi-state complexity, see multi-state overtime compliance.

Question 20

What payroll records should employers keep to defend overtime and holiday pay calculations in an audit?

Accepted Answer

FLSA (29 CFR § 516.2) requires employers to retain payroll records, including hours worked each day, total weekly hours, and the basis for any premium pay, for at least three years. EasyClocking by WorkEasy Software automatically generates a timestamped audit trail for every overtime and holiday pay calculation, covering punch data, pay-code classification, rule application, and manager approvals. This trail is exportable for DOL or state-agency review, which is the practical test of whether your records are defensible.

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