I have a holiday question that has arisen at my company. We have a full time employee who normally works 4o hours weekly. Our company holiday policy states that she is entitled to 8 hours holiday pay. My question is this................Over the month of may this particular employee was working an involuntary reduced work schedule that consised of 0 hours. Do we still have to pay her for Memorial Day, since the decrease in hours was of no fault of hers? Any guidance on this would be greatly appreciated

The FLSA does not require payment to EEs for time NOT worked; therefore these benefits are a matter of agreement between the ER and the EE with the language in the handbook being the determining factor.  Most handbooks define terms that the EE must meet in order to qualify for holiday pay if it is offered.  They typically consider the following in order to receive the benefit:

1.      The active status of the EE: full time or part time

2.      The EE has to work the day before and the day after

a.       To minimize the percentage of EEs trying to extend the holiday at the expense of the company and operations

3.      Define the determination of the holiday pay if the EE does NOT work the day before and the day after, if it is due to FMLA, WC, LOA, bereavement, sick leave, etc.

a.       Some clearly define what will happen (like they go back to the day which would be considered a ‘normal’ work day without these constraints and see if the EE worked those days) or

b.      Some say it will be determined on a case-by-case basis

You stated in your own words, “Our company holiday policy states that she is entitled to 8 hours holiday pay.”  I don’t know if this EE is a truly valued member of the team, how long she has been with the company or what she gets paid (or for that matter if it even matters if it’s owed to her); but if you “feel” already that it’s owned to her then I would NOT sacrifice her loyalty to the company to save eight hours of straight time to her.  And by your own admission, it isn’t a voluntary leave, but rather it was asked of her.  If the handbook says she’s got it coming to her, then I would pay it and be done with it.  This will keep a smile on your face and hers, because you will not have to incur the wraith of her when she calls in screaming about the injustice done to her because you didn’t pay her what she had coming and then you finally give up to stop the fight and pay her the money anyhow.

If your policy doesn't clearly define these situations and you haven't encountered this before, then I would hold a top leadership meeting to determine the standard with regard to this situation and any that can/will occur in the future.  I would revise this section of the handbook.  If this section doesn't have clear direction then I would imagine the rest of the handbook is lacking and I would consider revising it as well.  I revise EE Handbooks on a yearly basis.

The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is the little bit of extra!  It’s the little things that really define your company’s culture and employee satisfaction.  I would put another notch on my belt for a job well done on this one.  Then I’d get back to the real issue of providing the best quality of service or product to help sustain the company through this downtrodden marketplace.

 

I'm not much into "feeling" or "valuing" on items like this. I'm much more in tune with "fair and even" If your policy says you owe her this money while she is on furlough, or medical leave, or whatever the cause of her absence may be, then you should pay it to her and everyone else in her shoes at your company. If the policy is not clear, then you need to get a decision made and do that and do it for everyone else similarly situated at your company. If the boss doesn't like the outcome, work with the boss to make a new policy.