Paid holidays in California are almost entirely a matter of employer policy, not law. No California or federal statute forces a private employer to close on any holiday, to give employees the day off with pay, or to pay a premium for holiday work.1Department of Industrial Relations. Holidays If you get paid holidays, it is because your handbook, employment contract, or union agreement says so. Public-sector employees are the exception: state law sets a specific list of holidays for government workers.
Are Private Employers Required to Give Paid Holidays
No. Neither the California Labor Code nor the federal Fair Labor Standards Act requires a private employer to provide paid time off on Christmas, Thanksgiving, the Fourth of July, or any other day.1Department of Industrial Relations. Holidays There is also no law that forces a private business to shut its doors on a holiday.2U.S. Department of Labor. Holiday Pay
What the law does require is that an employer honor its own written promises. Once holiday pay appears in a company handbook, offer letter, or collective bargaining agreement, the employer has to follow through. Refusing to pay under those circumstances can become a wage claim. But if the handbook is silent, there is no default entitlement.
Most private employers that do offer paid holidays build their calendar around the 11 federal holidays:
- New Year’s Day (January 1)
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (third Monday in January)
- Presidents’ Day (third Monday in February)
- Memorial Day (last Monday in May)
- Juneteenth (June 19)
- Independence Day (July 4)
- Labor Day (first Monday in September)
- Columbus Day (second Monday in October)
- Veterans Day (November 11)
- Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday in November)
- Christmas Day (December 25)
Some employers also offer floating holidays that let you pick a day off for a birthday, cultural observance, or personal reason. Those are treated differently from fixed holidays at termination, which is worth understanding before you leave a job.
Working on a Holiday
California law does not require any premium pay for holiday work. If you clock in on Thanksgiving or Christmas, your employer owes you your regular hourly rate, not time and a half or double time.1Department of Industrial Relations. Holidays Any bonus rate for holiday work is a voluntary benefit.
Regular overtime rules do still apply, and California’s are more generous than federal law. Under Labor Code Section 510, a nonexempt employee earns:3California Department of Industrial Relations. Overtime FAQ
- Time-and-a-half for hours 9 through 12 in a workday
- Double time for every hour past 12 in a workday
- Time-and-a-half for every hour past 40 in a workweek
- Time-and-a-half for the first 8 hours on the seventh consecutive day in a workweek, and double time after that
One point that catches people off guard: if your employer gives you the holiday off with pay and you do not actually work, those paid hours do not count toward the overtime calculation. Only hours you physically work count.3California Department of Industrial Relations. Overtime FAQ
How the Pay Is Calculated
For a full-time employee whose employer offers paid holidays, the calculation is usually a full day at the regular rate, typically 8 hours of pay. Part-time employees are where policies diverge. Some employers pro-rate holiday pay based on the part-time schedule; others limit the benefit to full-time staff. No California statute requires pro-rated holiday pay for part-time private-sector workers, so the answer sits inside the written policy.
Eligibility Conditions
Employers frequently attach strings to holiday pay. The most common condition is that you work your scheduled shift both immediately before and immediately after the holiday. If your handbook includes that rule, calling out sick the day before Thanksgiving can cost you the holiday pay. These conditions are enforceable, so read the policy before assuming the pay is automatic.
Salaried Exempt Employees and Holiday Closures
The rules shift if you are a salaried exempt employee. Under the salary basis test, your employer must pay your full weekly salary for any week in which you perform any work. If the business closes mid-week for a holiday, your pay cannot be docked for that day. You were ready and willing to work; the employer chose to close.
The one exception is a full-workweek shutdown. If the business closes for an entire week and you do zero work, the employer does not have to pay salary for that week. Zero means zero: answering a few emails or taking a call would restore the requirement to pay the full weekly salary.
Floating Holidays and Payout When You Leave
What happens to unused floating holidays at termination depends on how the benefit is structured, and this is where employers most often get it wrong.
Under Labor Code Section 227.3, earned and unused vacation must be paid out at your final rate of pay when employment ends, whether you quit or are fired.4California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code Section 227.3 California treats accrued vacation as wages, and a policy that forfeits vested vacation is illegal. Use-it-or-lose-it vacation policies are prohibited.5Department of Industrial Relations. Vacation FAQ
The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement takes the position that leave time provided without conditions is presumed to be vacation, regardless of the label. A floating holiday you can take any time for any reason is functionally vacation, so it must be paid out at termination.
A floating holiday tied to a specific event, like a birthday or work anniversary, or one that requires you to pick from a fixed list of holidays, is closer to a traditional fixed holiday. Those generally do not require payout because they were never unconditional time off. If your employer calls something a floating holiday but lets you use it whenever you want, the DLSE will look past the label, and unpaid amounts can become a wage claim.
Religious Holiday Accommodations
Even though private employers are not required to give anyone a paid holiday, both federal and California law require reasonable accommodation of religious observances, which can include time off for religious holidays.
Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, an employer must accommodate a sincerely held religious belief unless doing so would create an undue hardship. The U.S. Supreme Court clarified in Groff v. DeJoy that undue hardship means a burden that is “substantial in the overall context of an employer’s business,” judged against the nature, size, and operating cost of the employer.6U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. What You Should Know: Workplace Religious Accommodation
California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act goes further. Under FEHA, religious belief explicitly covers observance of a Sabbath or holy days, plus reasonable travel time. To deny an accommodation, an employer must show “significant difficulty or expense,” which tends to give California workers somewhat stronger protection than the federal minimum.
The accommodation does not have to be paid time off. A schedule change, a voluntary shift swap with a coworker, or unpaid leave can all satisfy the obligation. What an employer cannot do is refuse to engage with the request or cite hypothetical hardship. Doing so exposes the employer to a discrimination claim under both federal and state law.
Official State Holidays for Government Employees
If you work for the state or a local government, the holiday list is set by Government Code Section 6700. It is longer than the federal calendar and includes New Year’s Day, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Lunar New Year, Lincoln Day (February 12), Presidents’ Day, Cesar Chavez Day (March 31), Genocide Remembrance Day (April 24), Diwali, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Admission Day (September 9), Native American Day (fourth Friday in September), Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Christmas Day, Good Friday from noon to 3 p.m., every Sunday, and any day proclaimed a public holiday by the President or Governor.7California Legislative Information. California Code Government Code Section 6700
Several of these, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Lunar New Year, and Cesar Chavez Day, apply to cities, counties, and districts only if the local governing body adopts them by charter, ordinance, or resolution.7California Legislative Information. California Code Government Code Section 6700 Which of these you actually receive as a paid day off also depends on your agency’s policies and any applicable union contract.