We all tend to mark our calendars as much by work holidays as birthdays or anniversaries. These legal holidays help us mark the passing of the work year and help us remember national events and historical figures. They can also give us the odd Monday or Friday out of the office, which can make for a nice weekend. But not every national or state holiday means paid time off. Here is an introduction to legal holidays laws in Kentucky.
Holidays in Kentucky
While most of our legal holidays, like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Memorial Day are nation-wide, states have their own particular legal holidays laws that can recognize additional state holidays. For example, the Bluegrass state celebrates Jefferson Davis’s and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s birthdays.
Kentucky Legal Holidays Statutes
Legal holiday laws in Kentucky are highlighted in the table below.
| Code Section | Kentucky Revised Statutes 2.110: Public Holidays |
| Holidays | New Year's Day; Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday; Washington's Birthday; Lincoln's Birthday; Memorial Day; Independence Day; Labor Day; Columbus Day; Veterans Day; Thanksgiving; Christmas; Jefferson Davis's Birthday; Robert E. Lee's Birthday; Confederate Memorial Day; Franklin D. Roosevelt's Birthday |
Legal Holidays and Employment
Since most public holidays mean some time off work, it’s only natural to think about how they will affect our employment. Generally speaking, Kentucky’s wage and hour laws regulate how much we can earn and there are strict minimum wage and overtime pay statutes guaranteeing our wages. But when it comes to holidays, not all employers are required to give employees time off for the holidays or pay employees extra for working legal holidays.
And because there are no federal employment laws that require holiday pay for work performed on legal holidays, private employers in Kentucky are legally allowed to make their employees to work on holidays and pay only the normal wage. That being said, most employers recognize the benefits of a happy staff, and will either give employees legal holidays off entirely or voluntarily provide overtime pay for working on a holiday. How your boss treats legal holidays will usually be spelled out in the specific terms of your employment contract.
Kentucky Legal Holidays Laws: Related Resources
As noted above, different states and different employers will treat legal holidays differently. You can contact a Kentucky employment law attorney in your area if you would like legal advice regarding an employment matter. You can also visit FindLaw's Employment Law section for additional articles and information on this topic.
