George C. Scott’s portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge had a dimension to the character that is sometimes missed: He did not like giving paid time off for legal holidays. After Bob Cratchit asked for Christmas Day off, Scrooge retorted with the following:
“It is not convenient. And it it’s not fair. If I were to hold back half a crown from your pay for it, you’d think yourself ill-used, I’ll be bound. But you don’t think me ill-used when I pay for a day’s wages for no work.”
“Poor excuse for picking a man’s pocket every 25th of December.”
That….really misses the point of having holidays. While there are differences between employees paid hourly (non-exempt employees) vs salary (exempt employees), countries have many recognized holidays. In the United States, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure define a “legal holiday” as follows:
(A) the day set aside by statute for observing New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday, Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans’ Day, Thanksgiving Day, or Christmas Day;
(B) any day declared a holiday by the President or Congress; and
(C) for periods that are measured after an event, any other day declared a holiday by the state where the district court is located.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 6.
Business, Federal, State, and Local Governments, have long recognized Christmas Day as a holiday with paid time off. In a case where a plaintiff claimed her First Amendment Free Exercise rights were violated by a county that had a facially neutral policy of designating Christmas as a paid legal holiday. Edelstein v. Stephens, No. 1:17-cv-305, at *12-13 (S.D. Ohio Feb. 16, 2018). The Court found the plaintiff had not shown any facts of discriminatory conduct, as the law did not discriminate against a particular religion or set of religious beliefs. Id.
Is Scrooge missing the point of the holidays? Where is the peace, love and goodwill towards fellow people? If Scrooge consults with his general counsel, is he on solid legal footing to give his employee a paid day off during a holiday such as Christmas?
Yes, actually, if we look at California state law. According to the California Department of Industrial Relations, California law does not require that an employer provide its employees with paid holiday, that it close its business on any holiday, or that employees be given the day off for any particular holiday.
From the California Labor Commissioner’s Website:
There is nothing in state law that mandates that an employer must close its business on any particular day, if at all. It is up to your employer to select which days, if any, it chooses to be open and closed for business, and if your employer is open on a holiday and schedules you to work that day, there is nothing in the law that obligates your employer to pay you anything but your regular pay and any overtime premium for all overtime hours worked.
https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_holidays.htm
So Bob Cratchit may be out of luck under California law. The law will not stop Scrooge. Tiny Tim will have a sad Christmas, doom and gloom will rule the day, and we may even fall into the calamity contemplated by Ghostbusters of 10 years of darkness and Cats and Dogs living together.
However, all may not be lost. There may be other possibilities, for example many companies still recognize the value in giving employees time off during the holidays. It can improve morale, help with team building, and also encourage loyalty to the company. So even if Scrooge can legally refuse to give his employees paid time off during the holidays, it may still be a wise decision for him to do so. There is also the reality of business competition: companies that refuse to give their employees paid time off during the holidays may soon find themselves hard pressed to retain workers when some competing companies do offer paid holiday time off.
Scrooge’s general counsel may be well advised to tell him: “yes sir, you can refuse to give any paid time off during the holidays, but . . . you may also be visited by a fourth ghost during your life changing experience tonight, the ghost of employees past, or the ghost of employment lawyers strongly urging you to adopt more friendly policies your your employees.”
Perhaps Tiny Tim may yet have a happy holiday.
Happy Holidays to all.
