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Holiday Pay Act
Introduced May 21, 2026 · Last action May 21, 2026 — Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
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Summary
The Holiday Pay Act would require employers to pay employees at least 1.5 times their regular rate for work done on public holidays. This means families would get more money for their hard work on days like Christmas or Thanksgiving. The government would enforce this rule to ensure fair pay for all employees.
Full bill text
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8980 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8980
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to require employers to
compensate employees working on a legal public holiday for such work at
a rate that is not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at
which the employee is employed, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 21, 2026
Ms. McBride (for herself and Mr. Casar) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to require employers to
compensate employees working on a legal public holiday for such work at
a rate that is not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at
which the employee is employed, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Holiday Pay Act''.
SEC. 2. RATE OF COMPENSATION FOR WORK PERFORMED ON LEGAL PUBLIC
HOLIDAYS.
(a) In General.--The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C.
201 et seq.) is amended--
(1) in section 3 (29 U.S.C. 203), by adding at the end the
following:
``(z) `Legal public holiday' means any legal public holiday
specified in section 6103(a) of title 5, United States Code.''; and
(2) by inserting after section 7 (29 U.S.C. 207) the
following:
``SEC. 8. RATE OF COMPENSATION FOR WORK PERFORMED ON LEGAL PUBLIC
HOLIDAYS.
``No employer shall employ an employee who in any workweek is
engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, or is
employed in an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of
goods for commerce, for work performed on a legal public holiday unless
such employee receives compensation for such work at a rate not less
than one and one-half times the regular rate (as determined under
section 7(e)) at which the employee is employed.''.
(b) Exclusion From Compensation Creditable Towards Overtime
Compensation.--Section 7(h)(2) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
(29 U.S.C. 207(h)(2)) is amended by inserting ``(other than for work
performed on a legal public holiday as required under section 8)''
after ``(6)''.
(c) Exemptions.--Section 13(f) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of
1938 (29 U.S.C. 213(f)) is amended by striking ``6, 7, 11, and 12'' and
inserting ``6, 7, 8, 11, and 12''.
(d) Prohibited Acts; Enforcement.--The Fair Labor Standards Act of
1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended--
(1) in section 15(a) (29 U.S.C. 215(a))--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``section 6 or
section 7,'' and inserting ``section 6, 7, or 8,''; and
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``section 6 or
section 7,'' and inserting ``section 6, 7, or 8,'';
(2) in section 16 (29 U.S.C. 216)--
(A) in subsection (b)--
(i) by striking ``section 6 or section 7''
each place it appears and inserting ``section
6, 7, or 8'';
(ii) by striking ``their unpaid minimum
wages, or the unpaid overtime compensation,''
and inserting ``their unpaid minimum wages,
unpaid overtime compensation, or unpaid legal
public holiday compensation,''; and
(iii) by inserting ``or unpaid legal public
holiday compensation'' after ``the amount of
unpaid overtime compensation'';
(B) in subsection (c)--
(i) in the first sentence--
(I) by striking ``the unpaid
minimum wages or the unpaid overtime
compensation'' and inserting ``the
unpaid minimum wages, unpaid overtime
compensation, or unpaid legal public
holiday compensation'';
(II) by striking ``section 6 or 7''
and inserting ``section 6, 7, or 8'';
and
(III) by striking ``such unpaid
minimum wages or unpaid overtime
compensation'' and inserting ``such
unpaid minimum wages, unpaid overtime
compensation, or unpaid legal public
holiday compensation'';
(ii) in the second sentence, by striking
``unpaid minimum wages or overtime
compensation'' inserting ``unpaid minimum
wages, unpaid overtime compensation, or unpaid
legal public holiday compensation''; and
(iii) in the third sentence, by striking
``unpaid minimum wages or unpaid overtime
compensation under sections 6 and 7'' and
inserting ``unpaid minimum wages, unpaid
overtime compensation, or unpaid legal public
holiday compensation under section 6, 7, or
8''; and
(C) in subsection (e)(2), by striking ``section 6
or 7'' and inserting ``section 6, 7, or 8''; and
(3) in section 17 (29 U.S.C. 217), by striking ``minimum
wages or overtime compensation'' and inserting ``minimum wages,
overtime compensation, or legal public holiday compensation''.
(e) Relation to Other Laws.--Section 18 of the Fair Labor Standards
Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 218) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(c) No provision of this Act or of any order thereunder shall
excuse noncompliance with any Federal or State law or municipal
ordinance--
``(1) establishing a rate of compensation for work
performed on a legal public holiday that is higher than the
rate required under section 8; or
``(2) otherwise requiring compensation for work performed
on any other holiday that is greater than the compensation
required under this Act.''.
(f) Additional Conforming Amendments.--
(1) In general.--The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29
U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended--
(A) in section 3(o) (29 U.S.C. 203(o)), by striking
``sections 6 and 7'' and inserting ``sections 6, 7, and
8'';
(B) in section 4(f), by striking ``unpaid minimum
wages, or unpaid overtime compensation,'' and inserting
``unpaid minimum wages, unpaid overtime compensation,
or unpaid legal public holiday compensation,''; and
(C) by repealing section 10 (29 U.S.C. 210).
(2) Statute of limitations.--Section 6 of the Portal-to-
Portal Act of 1947 (29 U.S.C. 255) is amended by inserting
``unpaid legal public holiday compensation,'' after ``unpaid
overtime compensation,''.
<all>Official legislative text sourced from the public record (cached on CivicsHQ).
Official source
View the original bill, actions, and full legislative record on Congress.gov.
Status
In Committee
- 1Introduced
- 2Committee
- 3Floor
- 4Passed
- 5Signed
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Topics
Labor & Employment
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