Holiday Pay Calculator
Work out holiday pay at your premium, a paid holiday off or a holiday bonus, and the week's overtime by federal and state rules. Free, no sign-up.
Who is paid
Pay
Holiday premium
Holiday pay
Enter the pay and the hours worked on the holiday.
General information, not legal, tax or HR advice. See our Terms.
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Holiday pay, worked out
$20 an hour, 8 hours on the holiday at time and a half.
| Week | Calculation | Week's pay |
|---|---|---|
| 32 other hours | 40 × $20 + 8 × $10 premium | $880.00 |
| 40 other hours (48 worked) | 48 × $20 + $80 premium; the $80 covers the 8 overtime hours' premium | $1,040.00 |
| 40 hours worked and a paid holiday off | 40 × $20 + 8 × $20 off | $960.00 |
| California: a 10-hour holiday and four 8-hour days | 42 × $20 + $100 premium; 2 daily overtime hours, their premium covered | $940.00 |
| A federal employee at $40 an hour, 8 hours on the holiday | 8 × $40 basic + 8 × $40 premium | $640.00 |
Sources: DOL Fact Sheet 23; 29 USC 207(e)(6) and (h)(2); Cal. Lab. Code 510; R.I. Gen. Laws 25-3-3; 5 U.S.C. 5546.
Frequently asked questions
Not under federal law: the FLSA requires no extra pay for holiday work as such, only overtime for hours over 40 in the week. Rhode Island requires at least time and a half for holiday work at most employers; Massachusetts ended its retail holiday premium in 2023.
Holiday hours × the hourly rate × your premium: 8 hours at $20 and time and a half is $240. A paid holiday off is the hours you pay × the rate. As an overtime and holiday pay calculator, it also adds the week's overtime by federal and state rules.
Hours worked on the holiday count toward the 40; a paid holiday off does not. A holiday premium of at least 1.5 times the rate may be credited toward the overtime owed that week.
An exempt employee's salary is the same in any week with work, holiday or not. Holiday premiums for exempt staff are a policy choice.
In a state with a daily rule, a long holiday shift is overtime by itself: California pays time and a half after 8 hours in a day and double time after 12. The calculator applies the state's daily, double time and seventh-day rules, and a holiday premium of 1.5 times or more is credited toward that overtime.
A bonus promised in advance or tied to hours, output or attendance is part of the regular rate, so it raises the overtime premium for that week. A gift at the employer's discretion, such as a holiday bonus not tied to work, stays out of it.
Under title 5, holiday work up to 8 hours is paid at the rate of basic pay plus premium pay equal to it, so double; an employee required to work is paid for at least 2 hours. Hours beyond the tour are overtime, at 1.5 times the rate up to the GS-10 step 1 rate (5 U.S.C. 5546, 5542).
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