Holiday Pay Calculator

How Holiday Pay Is Worked Out

There are three common cases. You can have the holiday off and be paid for it. You can work the holiday and be paid at a higher rate. Or you can work it and also receive the holiday pay.

Each case is a simple sum of hours and rate. The calculator asks which one applies to you, then shows the pay for each part and the total for the day.

Holiday Off With Pay

When you do not work and are paid for the holiday, the pay is the holiday hours times your base rate. Eight hours at $20.00 is $160.00.

The hours are usually the length of your normal workday. If your schedule varies, your employer policy says how the hours are set.

Holiday Worked At Time And A Half Or Double Time

If you work the holiday and are paid a higher rate, multiply the hours, the rate and the multiplier. Eight hours at $20.00 at time and a half is 8 × $20.00 × 1.5 = $240.00. At double time it is $320.00.

Pick 1, 1.5 or 2 from the list, or choose Other and type your own multiplier. Use the multiplier your employer states in its holiday policy or your contract.

Worked The Holiday And Paid Holiday Pay Too

Some employers pay the holiday pay and then pay again for the hours you work. In that case you add the two. Eight hours worked at time and a half is $240.00, plus eight hours of holiday pay at $160.00, for $400.00.

Choose the worked and holiday pay option to see both parts listed separately. Check your pay slip to see whether the two appear as separate lines.

Does The Law Require Holiday Pay?

In the US, federal law does not require a holiday premium or pay for holidays you do not work. Whether you are paid for a holiday, and at what rate, is set by your employer or by your contract.

Other countries and some states have their own rules, which this calculator does not cover. The multiplier is whatever you enter.

Federal wage law does not require pay for time not worked, such as holidays. It also does not require a premium for working on a holiday. Holiday pay is a matter of agreement between you and your employer. Source: US Dept. of Labor, holiday pay. Checked November 2026. An estimate, not payroll, tax or legal advice.

Holiday Hours And Overtime

Paid holiday hours are pay for time you did not work, so they do not count toward overtime. Take a week of four 10 hour days plus a paid holiday of 8 hours. You worked 40 hours, so there is no overtime, and the week pays $960.00.

Now say you worked a fifth day instead of having the holiday off. The week is 48 hours of work, which includes 8 hours of overtime, and pays $1,040.00.

The calculator on the time card marks holiday days as paid but not worked, so overtime is counted from the hours you really worked.

Pay for a holiday you did not work is pay for time not worked. Those hours do not count toward the 40 hours that start federal overtime. Source: US Dept. of Labor, 29 CFR 778.218. Checked November 2026. An estimate, not payroll, tax or legal advice.

Use The Holidays On Your Time Card

If you mark a day as a holiday on your time card, the Use my saved hours button can fill in your rate. It also fills in the hours for your latest holiday. It reads from your own device and sends nothing out.

Mark holidays in the time card calculator.

Check Your Pay Slip

Holiday pay often shows as its own line on a pay slip. Compare it with this result using the same hours and rate. If the numbers differ, the multiplier or the hours may be set differently from what you assumed.

To compare a whole pay period, use was I paid right.

Questions People Ask