Inconsistent holiday policy probably legal

DEAR CARRIE: I work for a small business. We aren't covered by a union contract or other employment agreement, so I am wondering if we have to live with a holiday change the company is planning.

For the last 10 years the company treated Christmas and New Year's Day as paid holidays, even if they fell on a weekend day. This year, however, the company doesn't plan to pay for the holidays, which both fall on a Saturday.

Yet, to make up for the fact that July 4 falls on a Saturday this year, we are getting Monday, July 5, off as a paid holiday. Is it legal for our employer to decline to pay for the other holidays? -- Holiday Blues

DEAR HOLIDAY BLUES: While the policy may seem inconsistent, it is probably legal.

"Absent an agreement stating otherwise, employers may determine their own policies [about holidays]," said employment attorney Ellen Storch, counsel at Kaufman, Dolowich Voluck & Gonzo in Woodbury.

You could check the company handbook to see whether the holiday policy listed conflicts with what the company says, but you could be out of luck there, too.

"Unless the company handbook or holiday policy explicitly states otherwise, the employer may choose to pay wages for holidays that fall on workdays and opt not to pay wages for holidays that do not," Storch said. 

DEAR CARRIE: I work in a local doctor's office. In November the office manager told me my hours would be cut because of decreased government Medicare reimbursements and less money in general coming into the office. So as of Jan. 1, I went from working 40 hours a week to 24 hours, or three eight-hour days per week. The manager also told me one of my workdays had to be a Monday.

My question is this: When a federal holiday, like Memorial Day or Labor Day, falls on a Monday and the office is closed, can my employer require me to work on a Tuesday or Friday of that week to make up the hours? On a similar note, if I call in sick on a scheduled workday, can the employer require me to make up the time?

When I worked full time I qualified for two paid sick days a year; so when I called in sick I didn't have to make up days. Our office has 14 employees and is nonunion. --Forced Make-up

DEAR FORCED: It seems your employer is acting legally, especially since you aren't unionized. Without a union contract or employment agreement stating otherwise, employers can legally reduce hours, require employees to work on particular days of the week and make up time when they miss a day, Storch said.

"It is appropriate for the employer to require that employee to work a previously unscheduled eight-hour day in order for the employee to receive wages for 24 hours [in a week]," she said.

You noted that you lost your two paid sick days when you were cut to part time. That unilateral decision is legal, too, in a nonunionized setting.

"Also, it is appropriate for employers to grant such benefits to full-time employees but not to part-time employees," Storch said.

And not paying you when the office closes on a Monday because of a holiday is also legal if you are a nonexempt employee, meaning the company has to pay you only for the hours you work.

For more on state labor law and fringe benefits, click here to go to www.labor.ny.gov/workerprotection/laborstandards/faq.shtm#8.  Click here for further information at www.labor.ny.gov/workerprotection/laborstandards/faq.shtm#9