Can an employer mandate a 9.5 hours workday and then only compensate 7.5 hours of holiday pay for that day?
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Can an employer mandate a 9.5 hours workday and then only compensate 7.5 hours of holiday pay for that day?
My employer changes to a mandatory 4 day work week throughout the summer months. This changes our daily schedule to 9.5 hours per day. The place of employment is no open or accessible on Fri-Sun. This schedule change is mandatory not optional. We are compensated for the July 4th day as holiday pay. This means that we do not work on that day and are paid for it. However, we are not compensated based on the new 9.5 hour work day. We are only compensated for 7.5 hours. We are expected to either take leave for the additional 2 hours we do not work on that day, or work longer hours on the other days in order to compensate. My question is, if the scheduled mandatory work hours are 9.5 can the employer only compensate us for 7.5?
Asked on July 2, 2018 under Employment Labor Law, West Virginia
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
If you are salaried, there is no change in your compensation whether you work 5 days or 4, if the shift to 4 days is at the employer's request or behest.
If you are hourly, you are paid for all hours actually *worked*. Note that holiday pay is not pay for work and holiday time is not work time, and employers are NOT required to provide holiday pay at all. If they choose to provide holiday pay, they can provide as much or as little as they want, and can put any restrictions or limitations on it--such as that you'd have to also use leave time to get the pay, or have to make up certain hours later. Your employer could simply close for July 4th and not pay you anything for that day, if it chose.
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