Can my employer decide to decrease my paid holidays wheneverit wants?

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Can my employer decide to decrease my paid holidays wheneverit wants?

I used to get 9 holidays and all of a sudden was verbally informed that I would no longer have Columbus Day and one other holiday; I would only have 7 paid holidays now.

Asked on September 21, 2011 under Employment Labor Law, Massachusetts

Answers:

M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 12 years ago | Contributor

The fact is that there is no statute, either federal or state, that requires an employer to give employees paid holidays. As such, providing such time is a discretionary benefit that an employer many choose to give or not. Accordingly, it has a great deal of discretion over who gets them, how many are given, and whether or not to allow them all. Therefore, if an employer chooses to cutback on the amount of paid holidays that an employee receives, it is perfectly permissible under the law.

The above holds true as long as there is not union agreement, employment contract, or exiting company policy to the contrary. Also, the decrease of paid holidays must in no way be the result of actionable discrimination.


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