There are no mandatory paid holidays in Texas for private-sector workers. Neither Texas law nor federal law forces a private employer to close for a holiday, give you the day off, or pay you anything extra for working one. The only workers in Texas with a legal right to paid holidays are state government employees, who receive 17 of them each year under Chapter 662 of the Texas Government Code.1State of Texas. Texas Government Code 662 – Holidays
No Paid Holidays Are Required in the Private Sector
The Texas Workforce Commission states the rule directly: Texas law does not require employers to observe any holidays or to pay employees for time off on holidays.2Texas Workforce Commission. Holiday Policies Federal law takes the same position. The Fair Labor Standards Act does not require payment for time not worked, which includes holidays, so the benefit stays a matter of agreement between employer and employee.3U.S. Department of Labor. Holiday Pay
Working the holiday changes nothing about the paycheck. No law in Texas or at the federal level requires premium pay for a shift worked on Christmas, Thanksgiving, the Fourth of July, or any other holiday. If your employer stays open and you clock in, you earn your usual hourly rate. Time-and-a-half, double-time, or any holiday bonus is entirely a matter of company policy.2Texas Workforce Commission. Holiday Policies
Can Your Employer Fire You for Refusing a Holiday Shift
In most cases, yes. Texas has been an at-will employment state for over 135 years, built on court decisions dating back to the 1880s rather than a single statute. Either side can end the employment relationship at any time, for any reason that isn’t illegal, or for no reason at all. If your employer schedules you for Thanksgiving and you refuse to show up, that refusal is grounds for termination.
At-will status also means your employer can change the schedule, scale back paid time off, or drop holiday benefits entirely without giving you notice. The real limits sit in anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation law. An employer cannot fire you for refusing a holiday shift if the actual reason is your race, sex, religion, or another protected characteristic. Religious observances carry their own protection, covered below.
When Holiday Pay Becomes Legally Enforceable
Everything shifts once an employer puts a holiday policy in writing. Under the Texas Payday Law, “wages” include holiday pay owed to an employee under a written agreement or written company policy. A handbook, offer letter, or collective bargaining agreement that promises holiday pay binds the employer to deliver it.2Texas Workforce Commission. Holiday Policies
This is where real disputes happen. If the policy promises pay for working Christmas, that pay is owed. If it promises a paid day off on Memorial Day, the employer cannot quietly withhold it. The exact wording controls the outcome, so read your handbook carefully before assuming anything.
An employee who isn’t paid promised holiday wages can file a wage claim with the Texas Workforce Commission. The claim must be filed within 180 days of the date the wages were originally due. The TWC investigates and can order the employer to pay.
Religious Holiday Accommodations
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires employers with 15 or more employees to reasonably accommodate a worker’s sincerely held religious beliefs, including requests for time off on a religious holiday.4U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Fact Sheet: Religious Accommodations in the Workplace The accommodation does not have to be paid. What the employer cannot do is refuse the request or punish you for making it unless granting the time off would place a substantial burden on the business.
In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Groff v. DeJoy raised the standard. An employer must now show that the accommodation would be a substantial burden in the overall context of the business, taking into account its nature, size, and operating cost.5U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Religious Discrimination For most employers, swapping a shift or approving an unpaid absence for a religious observance will not meet that threshold.
The 17 Paid Holidays for Texas State Employees
State government workers are the one group in Texas with a statutory right to paid holidays. Chapter 662 lists each one and guarantees state employees a paid day off whenever a listed holiday falls on a regular workday.1State of Texas. Texas Government Code 662 – Holidays The statute splits the holidays into national and state categories.
National 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
- Independence Day, July 4
- Labor Day, first Monday in September
- Veterans Day, November 11
- Thanksgiving Day, fourth Thursday in November
- Christmas Day, December 25
State Holidays
- Confederate Heroes Day, January 19
- Texas Independence Day, March 2
- San Jacinto Day, April 21
- Emancipation Day in Texas, June 19
- Lyndon Baines Johnson Day, August 27
- Friday after Thanksgiving
- December 24
- December 26
A state employee who has to work on one of these holidays is entitled to compensatory time off within 12 months. Higher education institutions have one additional option: they can pay the employee at the regular rate for the holiday worked instead of granting comp time, if giving the day off would disrupt teaching, research, or other critical functions.6State of Texas. Texas Government Code GOV’T 662.007
These rights cover employees of state agencies, departments, universities, and legislative offices. They do not reach city, county, or school district employees, whose holiday calendars are set by their own governing bodies, and they do not apply to the private sector at all.
Federal Employees Working in Texas
Federal employees in Texas receive 11 paid holidays per year under federal law. The schedule overlaps heavily with Texas’s national holidays and adds Columbus Day, the second Monday in October, along with Juneteenth National Independence Day on June 19.7United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Federal Holidays When a federal holiday lands on a Saturday, offices typically observe it the preceding Friday; a Sunday holiday moves to Monday. This schedule binds federal agencies only. It creates no obligation for private employers in Texas, including those holding federal contracts, to match it for their own staff.
Unused Holiday Pay When You Leave
Texas does not require employers to pay out unused vacation, PTO, or accrued holiday benefits when an employee quits or is fired. A payout is owed only if the employer’s written policy or agreement specifically promises one.8Texas Workforce Commission. Accrued Leave Payouts If the handbook is silent, the employer owes nothing for unused days.
Policy wording decides it. If the handbook says unused floating holidays are forfeited at year-end, they’re forfeited. If it says accrued PTO is paid out at termination, that payout becomes an enforceable wage under the Texas Payday Law. The specific language of your employer’s policy matters far more than any assumption about what’s standard.