Holiday Pay for Nurses: How It Usually Works

Holiday pay for nurses usually means a premium rate for hours you work on a recognized holiday, set by your employer's policy or union contract. Federal law does not require employers to pay extra for holiday work, so which holidays count, how much extra you earn and which hours qualify all vary by employer. Because hospitals never close, most nurses also share holiday coverage, often through a rotation.

What the law does and does not require

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not require pay for holidays you take off or premium pay for working a holiday. The one way federal rules touch holiday work is through overtime: if holiday hours push you over 40 hours in a workweek, the usual overtime rules apply. State rules vary, so check yours, but for most nurses the real answer lives in the employee handbook or the union contract.

The two kinds of holiday pay

Holiday premium pay is extra pay for hours worked on a designated holiday. Depending on the policy, it may be a multiple of your base rate or a set hourly add-on.

Paid holiday time is pay for a holiday when you are not working. Some hospitals give separate paid holiday hours. Others fold holidays into a combined PTO bank, which means taking a holiday off uses your own PTO. Ask which model your employer uses, because it changes how much time off you really have.

Which holidays count

Every employer keeps its own list. Many include major holidays such as New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Some add others, and some pay a different rate for holiday eves. Do not assume a holiday counts because your last job recognized it. Find the list in your handbook or contract.

How the holiday period is defined

This is the detail that matters most if you work nights. Policies define a holiday period, the window of hours that earns holiday pay. It might run midnight to midnight, or it might follow shift start times, such as every shift that begins on the holiday.

Take a night shift that starts on the evening before Christmas and ends Christmas morning. Depending on the definition, you might earn the premium for only the hours after midnight, for the whole shift, or for none of it. The same goes for the shift that starts on the holiday evening and runs into the next day. Read the definition before you trade or request holiday shifts. Nurses in the Night Shift Warriors group swap notes on how their hospitals split these shifts.

Holiday rotations and requirements

Most units need a plan for who works which holidays. A common setup splits holidays into groups and has you work a set number each year, often alternating major holidays from one year to the next. How assignments are made varies: some units go by seniority, some by request, some by a fixed rotation.

A few situations to look at closely:

• Per diem roles frequently come with a holiday requirement as a condition of keeping per diem status. Our post on per diem vs staff nurse pay covers other tradeoffs.
• Travel contracts spell out whether holiday pay applies and whether the facility can schedule you on holidays. Ask your recruiter before you sign. The Travel Nurses Network group is a good place to compare experiences.
• On-call holidays may have their own standby and call-back rates. See on-call and call-back pay for nurses for what to ask.

How holiday pay fits with differentials and overtime

Holiday premiums sit on top of a pay structure that already includes base pay, shift differentials and sometimes weekend differentials. Policies answer a few questions differently:

1. Do differentials stack with the holiday premium? Some policies add night or weekend differentials on top of holiday pay; others do not.
2. What happens when holiday hours are also overtime hours? Some employers pay both premiums, some pay the higher of the two, and federal rules let certain holiday premiums count toward overtime owed. Ask payroll how they calculate it.
3. Do holiday hours count toward overtime? Hours you work on a holiday count as hours worked. Paid holiday hours you do not work generally do not count toward the federal 40, though some policies count them.

Our guide to how nurse overtime is calculated explains the federal rules, and what a shift differential is and how it is paid covers how differentials are applied.

What to check in your policy or contract

Before the holiday schedule comes out, confirm:

• The list of recognized holidays
• The holiday premium and exactly which hours it applies to
• How the holiday period is defined for night and evening shifts
• How many holidays you must work and how assignments are made
• Whether you must work your scheduled shifts before and after a holiday to receive holiday pay
• Whether holiday pay applies if you are cancelled for low census on the holiday
• How paid holiday time works if you are part-time

If you are covered by a union contract, the holiday section usually answers most of these questions. If you are not, ask HR for the written policy rather than relying on what coworkers remember.

Common pitfalls

Assuming the premium covers the whole shift. For nights especially, read the holiday period definition first.

Discovering your holiday off came out of PTO. If holidays are part of a PTO bank, plan your balance before the season starts.

Comparing job offers without the holiday picture. Two jobs with similar base rates can differ a lot in holiday requirements and premiums. Use the free pay calculator to compare schedules.

Not checking your paycheck. Holiday premiums are easy to miss when a holiday falls at the end of a pay period. Compare your hours to your stub and ask payroll if something is missing.

Next step

If holiday rules are part of why you are looking around, browse registered nurse jobs on NurseTide, where every posting shows the pay, and ask about the holiday policy when you interview.

General information for nurses, not medical, legal, tax or financial advice. Follow your facility's policies, your state board of nursing and the terms of your employer or contract.