My boyfriend works for a company in MA. He is hourly. A few times a year they have holidays where the buildings are closed, and they are not paid nor are they given the option to come into work. Money is very tight and it's making me extremely angry that they are doing this.

I don't think they are doing anything illegal, but I wanted to pose the question anyhow, and see what people think. Not only does he only get 6 sick/personal days a YEAR - he is forced to stay home on regular work days that happen to be holidays and not get paid. He could take a personal day, but having only 6 per year doesn't give him much room to be sick to begin with!

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

None of it is illegal. If the employer doesn't want him to work on a holiday, he doesn't work. Employers don't have to offer holiday pay.

There is no law in any state that requires an employer to provide paid holidays to non-exempt employees. There is no law in any state that requires an employer to schedule an employee for work on a holiday. There is no law in any state that requires an employer to provide any paid sick, vacation or personal days at all. An employer may legally choose what days to be open and which days to be closed.

So yes, what they are doing is legal.

As a business owner I just wanted to state that maybe your boyfriends company can't afford to pay for these days? I run a small company (less than 10 employees), and while I would love to offer tons of paid time off it just isn't possible, at least not without us going out of business.