No, you don’t need to offer an alternative day off. There are no federal laws requiring private employers to provide paid time off for holidays.
However, there are potential benefits to offering an alternative day off:
* It can boost employee morale. Employees won’t feel that they “lost” a day off – and three-day weekends are always appreciated!
* It may save you from having to process a host of time-off requests for weekdays around that holiday.
* It communicates your commitment to work-life balance, an important factor for engagement and retention.
This Q&A does not constitute legal advice and does not address state or local law.
Answer from Janelle, SHRM-CP, SHRM-PMQ:
Janelle has over 19 years of HR Practitioner experience within the healthcare, logistics, and manufacturing industries. She has worked in HR roles as an HR Manager, HR Generalist, and Sr. Recruiter managing hiring, onboarding, payroll, employee relations, and staffing. Janelle holds certifications from the University of South Florida Muma College of Business and the Society for Human Resource Management.
