Bill · S. 3867· Senate(119-S-3867)
Holiday Pay Act
- Introduced
- 2/12/2026
- Last activity
- 2/12/2026 — Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
- Sponsored by
- Ruben Gallego
- Cosponsors
- None
- Introduced
- In Committee
What this bill would do
The "Holiday Pay Act" seeks to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. The bill would require employers to pay employees a specific rate for work performed on legal public holidays. Specifically, it mandates that such work be compensated at a rate of at least one and one-half times the employee's regular rate. The bill defines a legal public holiday as any day specified in section 6103(a) of title 5, United States Code. It also updates various enforcement and compensation provisions within the existing law to include this new requirement.
Yes· 3 of 11
Would households on low incomes be better off under this?+6
Low-income workers engaged in commerce will receive higher compensation for working on public holidays.
Would union members be better off under this?+5
The bill strengthens wage protections and provides specific enforcement mechanisms for holiday pay.
Does this raise the lowest wage an employer may pay?+5
The bill establishes a mandatory premium rate of 1.5 times the regular rate for work performed on legal public holidays.
The opposite
Would business owners be better off under this?-5
Employers will face increased labor costs due to the mandatory holiday pay premium.
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
-
Increased compensation for holiday work: Employees engaged in commerce or the production of goods would receive at least one and one-half times their regular rate for working on a legal public holiday. This is found in Section 2(a)(2).
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Enhanced enforcement and recovery: The bill updates the Fair Labor Standards Act to include "unpaid legal public holiday compensation" within the scope of what can be recovered through enforcement actions and the statute of limitations. This is found in Section 2(d) and Section 2(f)(2).
Potential Negative Impacts for People
- Exclusion of holiday pay from overtime calculations: The bill specifies that compensation earned for work performed on a legal public holiday cannot be credited towards overtime compensation. This is found in Section 2(b).
Groups and Interests Ranking
Every group the model scored this bill for, from -10 to +10. Hover a score for the reason it gave.
- Demographic And Interest Groups
- Good For Low Income Households+6Good For Union Workers+5Good For Middle Class Households+4Good For African Americans+3Good For Asian Americans+3Good For Hispanic Americans+3Good For Men+3Good For Native Americans+3Good For White Americans+3Good For Women+3Good For Business Owners-5
- Economy And Finance
- Increases Minimum Wage+5
- 2/12/2026
- Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
- Introduced in Senate
One bill Congress.gov lists as related to this one — companions in the other chamber, earlier versions, and bills this one absorbed or was folded into.