I am an hourly employee for a major California non-profit organization who, like all employers, issues its employees a list of paid days off for the year. The paid day in question is the day after Christmas. Once a paid holiday is promised, under what conditions can it be revoked and how much if any notice must be given? We were notified 3 hours before the end of the work day, just before the expected 4 day weekend. Some on the east coast won’t find out they are absent without permission (or the expected pay) until they return from the “holiday.”

There is no state law in California that requires employers to provide paid holidays, so employers are allowed to set their own policies with regard to how many paid holidays (if any) they chose to allow their employees and any policies surrounding their use.

You can certainly have any documentation that you have reviewed by a local attorney to see whether it rises to the level of an enforceable contract, but I would suspect that it doesn't.

And, yes, I do think that if the employer needed to cancel the paid holiday, it should have provided more advance notice. Unfortunately, I can't see that the employer broke any law by providing the limited notice that it did.

It is my understanding, but perhaps does not apply here, that when an employer extablishes policy (in this case regarding paid time off) then the employer must adhere to his policy, not revoke it as it suits the employer need.

Again, depends on whether or not the "policy" rises to the level of a contractual obligation. More often than not, they do not.

Thank you for your input!

I'm in a similar situation with a former employer whose policy manual states that as a company rule, Thanksgiving, Christmas and your own birthday are time and a half. Yet they verbally tell everyone they don't do that. When referencing the manual they always say, "oh we don't do that anymore" yet they keep giving it to people and advertise that as part of their perks for working there.

No employee manual or policy is ever going to qualify as a contractual obligation. Most employers have a clause that says, "we reserve the right to make any modifications to our policies and procedures at any time without any warning" and that's what they do.

If your employer sends you an email that says, "yes we will pay you time and a half for holidays" and then later doesn't pay you time and a half and claims that isn't their policy, that email may be all you need to get them to pay you time and a half. But a general policy manual or anything of the like will not work simply because the employer can change their policies at any time without any warning.

Getting employers to honor their promises is like pulling teeth.

It was stunning to have the paid holiday time off posted to our payroll, and on our electronic timecards then suddenly removed and debited after the memo came out. After this one, nothing should shock me eh? Have a great New Year!