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What Holidays Are Time and a Half?

The honest answer: under federal law, none of them automatically — not even the 11 federal holidays. Here is what actually determines your holiday rate, holiday by holiday.

The one-paragraph version

The Fair Labor Standards Act requires overtime after 40 hours in a workweek. It does not require extra pay for holidays, weekends, or night shifts. The U.S. Department of Labor treats holiday premium pay as a matter of agreement between employer and employee. So if you get time and a half on a holiday, it is because your employer's policy, your union contract, or your state says so — and if you don't, that is usually lawful.

The 11 federal holidays

Federal offices close and most federal employees are paid. Private employers owe nothing extra.

Commonly asked about, but not federal holidays

These generate the most pay confusion precisely because they feel like holidays but carry no federal status at all.

Which holidays are most likely to actually pay a premium?

There is no legal ranking, but there is a practical pattern. Thanksgiving and Christmas Day are the most widely observed paid holidays, and the ones employers who must stay open are most likely to attach a premium to. Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve draw premiums for the same reason despite not being federal holidays — the evening shifts are hard to fill. Columbus Day and Veterans Day sit at the other end: federal holidays that much of the private sector simply works through.

What to check, in order

  1. Your handbook's holiday section — which holidays are listed, at what multiplier, and whether eligibility depends on tenure or on working the surrounding shifts.
  2. Your union contract, if you have one — these are specific and enforceable.
  3. Your state — a few states have retail holiday/Sunday premium rules; Rhode Island is the notable one, and several states have repealed theirs. See overtime rules by state.
  4. Your pay stub — holiday premium and overtime are often separate lines, and conflating them is the most common way workers miscount what they are owed.

Do the math

Get the quick 1.5x figure on the holiday pay calculator, a full week with mixed rates in the overtime calculator, or 2x rates in the double time calculator. For the 2025–2028 federal overtime deduction, see the no tax on overtime calculator.

Holiday pay FAQ

What holidays are time and a half?
Under federal law, none of them automatically. The FLSA requires overtime only after 40 hours in a workweek and does not require premium pay for any holiday — including the 11 federal holidays. Time and a half on holidays comes from employer policy, a union contract, or in a few cases state law. In practice, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day are the most commonly premium-paid, and Columbus Day and Veterans Day among the least.
Is holiday pay time and a half?
"Holiday pay" usually means one of two different things. Some employers mean a paid day off at your normal rate; others mean a premium multiplier for working the day. Both are policy choices — federal law requires neither. Read your handbook's holiday section to see which one applies to you, and at what rate.
Are the 11 federal holidays paid holidays?
The 11 federal holidays are paid days off for most federal employees and close federal offices. For private-sector workers they carry no pay obligation at all — a private employer can require work on any federal holiday and pay a normal rate.
Do paid holiday hours count toward overtime?
Generally no. Holiday hours that are paid but not worked do not count toward the FLSA's 40-hour overtime threshold. Hours you actually work on a holiday count like any other hours. That is why a 44-paid-hour week containing a paid holiday can produce no overtime.