The Ins and Outs of Floating Holiday Pay Per Massachusetts Wage and Hour Laws

Are Massachusetts Employers Required to Pay Floating Holiday Pay When Your Employment Ends Under the Massachusetts Wage Act?

Massachusetts employees may be entitled to pay for unused floating holiday pay

According to Massachusetts law, employers are not required to offer floating holidays to their employees.

Employers that do offer floating holidays, however, must follow the Massachusetts Wage Act relative to the payment for those days because that law includes “holidays” in its definition of “wages.” MGL ch. 149 s 148. In some circumstances, this would include paying out unused and accrued floating holidays at the end of someone’s employment. (Click here to learn more about requirements relative to the timing of those payments).

For example, say you are provided with 5 floating holidays, per calendar year, and that you are not allowed to carry unused floating holidays forward from year to year. That means, at any time during a year you will have the right to use 5 floating holidays, minus what you already have used during that year. When your employment ends, your employer, subject to some exceptions, may be required to pay you the value of those floating holidays.

Employers are entitled to set terms and conditions regarding the use of floating holidays , including not allowing employees to utilize that time until they satisfy a probationary or trial period. Employers can also dictate the number of floating holidays, can require that the allotted time be accrued over time (e.g., a certain amount of hours per pay period), and can enforce a policy that prohibits employees from rolling unused floating holidays forward to subsequent years.

In short, if your employer offers you floating holidays, you may be entitled to have them paid to you at the end of your employment.

Want to learn more? Are you an employee living in or near Pittsfield, Springfield, Worcester, Lowell, Fall River, New Bedford or Cape Cod?  Do you have questions about the payment of floating holidays?  Contact Steffans Legal today for a free consultation.

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