Holiday pay is not mandatory in Minnesota for most private-sector workers. Neither state nor federal law requires your employer to pay you for a holiday you take off, and neither requires extra pay when you work on one.1Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Wages and Overtime FAQs Holiday pay is a benefit your employer chooses to offer. There is one recent industry-specific exception for nursing home workers, and public employees follow a separate set of rules.
What Private Employers Actually Owe You
If your workplace closes for Thanksgiving and you stay home, your employer has no legal obligation to pay you for that day.2U.S. Department of Labor. Holiday Pay The federal Fair Labor Standards Act treats holidays like any other day, and Minnesota does the same. Many employers voluntarily offer six to ten paid holidays a year to attract workers, but nothing in the law forces them to.
If you do work on a holiday, you’re entitled to your normal hourly rate. No time-and-a-half, no double time, no premium, unless your employer offers one.1Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Wages and Overtime FAQs
How Overtime Interacts With Holiday Hours
The only guaranteed premium tied to holiday work comes from overtime. Minnesota’s overtime law kicks in after 48 hours in a workweek, requiring one-and-a-half times your regular rate above that threshold.3Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 177.25 – Overtime Most Minnesota businesses also fall under the federal FLSA, which sets the threshold at 40 hours.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 207 – Maximum Hours When both apply, the rule more favorable to you wins, so in practice most workers earn overtime after 40 hours.1Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Wages and Overtime FAQs
One important detail: only hours actually worked count toward overtime. A paid holiday you take off does not add to your weekly total, even though you’re paid for it.5Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Overtime Laws
The Nursing Home Exception
Since January 1, 2025, nursing home workers who work on any of Minnesota’s eleven designated state holidays must receive at least time-and-a-half their regular hourly wage for every hour worked on the holiday.6Legal Information Institute. Minnesota Rule 5200.2010 – Holiday Pay It covers direct care staff, non-direct care staff, and contractors working in a nursing home. Administrative staff, medical directors, nursing directors, physicians, and workers from supplemental nursing staffing agencies are excluded.7Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Holiday Pay and Posting Requirements: An Overview
If your existing contract already guarantees a higher premium than time-and-a-half, your employer cannot lower it to the new statutory minimum.
Salaried Exempt Employees During Holiday Closures
If you’re salaried and exempt from overtime, federal rules protect your paycheck when the business closes for a holiday. Under the FLSA’s salary basis requirement, your employer cannot dock your salary for absences caused by the employer or by business operating requirements.8eCFR. 29 CFR 541.602 – Salary Basis A holiday closure is the employer’s decision, so it falls into that category.
If you perform any work during a week that includes a holiday closure, you’re entitled to your full weekly salary.9U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 17G – Salary Basis Requirement and the Part 541 Exemptions Under the FLSA Your employer can require you to use PTO for the day, but if you have none left, they still can’t reduce your salary. The one exception is a full workweek with zero work performed.
When an Employer’s Own Policy Creates a Legal Right
Even though Minnesota law doesn’t require holiday pay, your employer’s policies can. If your employment contract, collective bargaining agreement, or employee handbook promises paid holidays or a holiday premium, your employer is bound by that promise. State law requires employers to pay wages as agreed upon, and holiday pay laid out in a written policy qualifies as an agreed-upon wage.10Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 181.101 – Wages; How Often Paid
A consistent past practice can create a similar expectation. If your employer has paid time-and-a-half every Thanksgiving for five years without saying it’s discretionary, cutting the benefit without notice becomes legally questionable. Check your handbook or offer letter carefully. What’s written there may give you stronger rights than the statute does.
Religious Holidays Your Employer Doesn’t Recognize
If you need time off for a religious holiday that isn’t on your employer’s list, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act requires reasonable accommodation for sincerely held religious practices that conflict with your schedule.11U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Fact Sheet: Religious Accommodations in the Workplace Common accommodations are schedule swaps, shift trades, or flexible hours. Your employer can refuse only if the accommodation would impose a substantial burden on the business. This protection doesn’t guarantee paid time off, but it generally prevents an employer from forcing a choice between your faith and your job.
Public Employees Follow a Different Framework
Minnesota government workers operate under a separate system. State law designates eleven official holidays during which no public business may be conducted except when necessary:12Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 645.44 – Definitions
- New Year’s Day (January 1)
- Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday (third Monday in January)
- Washington’s and Lincoln’s Birthday (third Monday in February)
- Memorial Day (last Monday in May)
- Juneteenth (June 19)
- Independence Day (July 4)
- Labor Day (first Monday in September)
- Indigenous Peoples Day (second Monday in October)
- Veterans Day (November 11)
- Thanksgiving (fourth Thursday in November)
- Christmas Day (December 25)
When a holiday lands on a Saturday, the preceding Friday is observed; when it falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is observed.12Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 645.44 – Definitions
Executive branch employees get a twelfth paid holiday, the Friday after Thanksgiving, but do not get Indigenous Peoples Day off. Other branches and local governments like counties and cities can decide whether to observe Indigenous Peoples Day and the day after Thanksgiving on their own.12Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 645.44 – Definitions State and local government employers may also offer compensatory time at one-and-a-half hours per overtime hour worked instead of cash overtime pay.3Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 177.25 – Overtime