State of Alabama (AL) Holiday Pay Regulation

While Alabama workers are given several holidays off, employers are not required by law to pay holiday pay if the employer chooses to close on a holiday. Holiday pay is solely at the discretion of the employer, though many employers compensate their workers for some of the major holidays such as Christmas and Thanksgiving.

If the employee works on a day deemed a holiday, the employer is only required to pay the employee a regular wage, and an extra amount is not required in consideration of the holiday such as holiday pay or time-and-a-half such as in some other states. There are also considerations made for the day on which the holiday falls so that employees will still have the day off if the holiday falls on a weekend. For instance, if the holiday falls on a Sunday, the employee will get the following Monday off. Likewise, the previous Friday in lieu of the Saturday holiday day will be considered the day off observed as the holiday.

Alabama counts several days as holidays for the purpose of wages including New Year’s Day, the Fourth of July, Confederate Memorial Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day and Fraternal Day, Veterans’ Day, American Indian Heritage Day, and the day designated by the Governor for public thanksgiving, as well as several American presidents’ and notable citizens’ birthdays such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert E. Lee, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Jefferson Davis. In addition, Mobile and Baldwin Counties celebrate Mardi gras as a holiday and all state offices are closed in observance.

The State of Alabama Department of Labor, established in 1943, publishes several reports on subjects such as job related illness and injuries through its federal surveys, promotes the peaceful settlement of labor disputes and provides mediation services. The State of Alabama Department of Labor of works closely with federal agencies including the U.S. Department of Labor.