The Holiday Rule is used to pay employees a fixed premium on holidays. This premium can be paid against a specific holiday pay code and pay category, so that it's differentiated on an employee’s timesheet.
When employees work on holidays, the rule can be configured so that it pays a higher, holiday pay rate. This higher pay rate can be a multiple of their regular rate, a set increase above their regular rate, or a fixed dollar per hour amount, regardless of their regular rate. It can be paid as a separate premium, in addition to their regular pay for the time, or as a blended rate, so that the worked time beyond the overtime threshold is paid at the multiplied or incremented rate.
Note: The Holiday Rule relies on additional configuration which defines which dates of the year are considered holidays. You can define sets of public holidays, called Pay Holiday Groups, which you assign to the appropriate employees. The rule pays the defined premium on holidays.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Holiday premium Hours | Enter the number of premium hours the rule pays to employees on holidays. If left blank, the rule pays the number of hours specified in the Average Daily Hours field in an employee’s record in People. |
| Award average daily hours |
Used to configure the Holiday Rule to use the number of hours specified in the Average Daily Hours field of an employee’s records in People as the duration of any holiday premiums it pays out. When selected, Dayforce uses the number of hours specified in the Average Daily Hours field of an employee’s records as the duration of any premiums it pays out instead of any value specified in the Holiday premium hours field. This allows the rule to pay holiday premiums for varying, employee-specific number of daily hours instead of paying out the same duration holiday premium for each employee. For example, a part-time employee’s Average Daily Hours field is set to 6 and a full-time employee’s is set to 8. With the Award average daily hours checkbox selected, the rule pays the part-time employee a six-hour premium on holidays and the full-time employee an eight hour premium. Note: The Holiday premium hours field is optional. The rule uses an employee’s Average Daily Hours field value if the Holiday premium hours is left blank in the rule’s configuration. The reverse is true as well. If the employee doesn’t have a value specified in the Average Daily Hours field, Dayforce uses the values specified in the Holiday premium hours field. If both this field and the People field are blank, the rule doesn’t pay out any premiums. |
| Holiday premium rate | Enter the holiday premium rate. If left blank, Dayforce uses the higher of either the employee’s base rate or the rate associated with their primary work assignment. |
| Holiday premium pay code | Select the pay code the rule assigns to any holiday premiums it pays out from the drop-down list. Typically, this is a specific pay code used to mark holiday pay. |
| Holiday premium pay category | Select the pay category the rule assigns any holiday premiums it pays out, from the drop-down list. |
| Apply pay category multiplier rate |
Select this checkbox and Dayforce pays holiday premiums at the multiplied rate associated with the pay category specified in the Holiday premium pay category setting. For example, if the pay category selected in the Holiday premium pay category drop-down list is configured with a multiplier of 1.5, employees earn a rate of 1.5 times the rate specified in the Holiday premium rate field on holidays. If no rate is specified (that is, the Holiday premium rate field is blank), the employee would instead earn 1.5 times the higher of either their base rate or the rate associated with their primary work assignment. |
| Apply holiday overtime | Select the checkbox to configure the rule to pay overtime for any eligible time employees work on holidays. The details of the holiday overtime are defined by the remaining settings. |
| Holiday overtime Pay Code | Select the pay code the rule assigns to any holiday overtime it pays out from the drop-down list. |
| Holiday overtime Pay Category | Select the pay category the rule pays any holiday premiums with, from the drop-down list. |
| Holiday overtime Rate Type |
Select Multiplier to configure the rule to pay employees a holiday overtime rate that is a multiple of their regular pay rate. To pay employee’s time and a half for holiday overtime, you would select Multiplier and enter 1.5 in the Holiday overtime Rate value field. Select Incremental to configure the rule to either add a dollar amount to the employees pay rate when paying holiday overtime or pay the employee a flat holiday overtime rate. To pay employees an additional $5 for overtime, you would select Incremental, enter 5 in the Holiday overtime Rate value field, and select Blended Rate in the Holiday overtime Rate output drop-down list. To pay employees $17.50 for holiday overtime, regardless of their regular rate, you would select Incremental, enter 17.50 in the Holiday overtime Rate value field, and select Separate Premium in the Holiday overtime Rate output drop-down list. |
| Holiday overtime Rate value | Enter the holiday overtime rate. |
| Holiday overtime Rate output |
Select how holiday overtime is paid, either in separate premiums or by changing the pay rate of eligible time on holidays. Select Blended Rate to pay overtime by increasing the pay rate of eligible time on a holiday. Select Separate Premium to pay employees separate premiums for working holidays. If an employee works 9 hours on a holiday, they're paid for 9 hours at their regular rate and also paid a holiday overtime premium for 9 hours. The premium is paid according to the rule’s configuration, either at a multiple or increment of the employee’s pay rate. |
| Pay codes eligible for Holiday overtime |
Select which pay codes mark eligible work. Eligible work that takes place on a holiday is paid at the holiday overtime rate, if Apply holiday overtime is selected. Note: Pay adjustments on a holiday using this pay code don’t count as eligible work. |
| Pay codes ineligible for Holiday overtime | Select which pay codes mark ineligible time. Ineligible time isn’t paid at the holiday overtime rate, even if it occurs on a holiday. |
| Pay categories eligible for Holiday overtime |
Select which pay categories mark eligible work. Eligible work that takes place on a holiday is paid at the holiday overtime rate, if Apply holiday overtime is selected. Note: Pay adjustments on a holiday that use this pay category don’t count as eligible work. |
| Pay categories ineligible for Holiday overtime | Select which pay codes aren’t considered eligible work. Ineligible time isn’t paid at the holiday overtime rate, even if it occurs on a holiday. |
| Apply overtime by holiday calendar date |
Select this checkbox to configure the rule so that the overtime rate for a holiday is paid only for the time worked on the holiday’s actual calendar date. This affects shifts that cross midnight. For example, if an employee starts their shift on the holiday, then the holiday overtime rate will stop at midnight. If the employee starts their shift the day before the holiday, then the holiday overtime rate will start after midnight. Important: For this checkbox to work properly, you must also select the Apply overtime by holiday calendar date checkbox in the Weekly Overtime Rule. |
| Evaluate at pay period end |
Select the checkbox and the rule runs only on the last day of each pay period. When it runs, Dayforce checks through the entire pay period to identify which days were pay holidays and awards premiums for these holidays, which are applied to the last day of the pay period. Clear the checkbox and premiums are paid on the day that the holiday occurs. For example, during a weekly pay period the first day is a holiday. With the checkbox selected, the rule pays out a premium for this holiday on the last day of the pay period. With the checkbox cleared, it pays out the premium on the first day of the pay period, the day on which the holiday occurs. |
| Calculate holiday hours as discount code |
Select this checkbox to configure the rule so that any premiums it pays out lower the weekly overtime thresholds of the Weekly Overtime Rule and cause employees to earn overtime after working a shorter amount of time. For example, employees start earning weekly overtime after working 40 hours in one week. An employee works 35 hours during a week and is paid eight hours for a holiday on Friday. With the weekly overtime threshold discounted by any holiday premiums paid by the Holiday Rule, the employee in this example earns weekly overtime after working 32 hours (the original threshold of 40 hours minus the eight hours of the holiday premium paid by the Holiday Rule). As a result, the Weekly Overtime Rule pays out three hours of overtime. Note: To fully configure this functionality, you must also select the Discount other items checkbox in the Weekly Overtime Rule, and define which premiums or holiday overtime pay details from the Holiday Rule are considered eligible using the Other discount eligible pay codes or Other discount ineligible pay codes settings. Typically, the pay codes selected in the Other discount eligible pay codes setting of the Weekly Overtime Rule matches the pay codes selected in the Holiday premium pay code or the Holiday overtime Pay Code setting of the Holiday Rule. See Weekly Overtime Rule. |
Holiday Rule Examples
Example 1: Business Needs
Employees are paid eight hours on public holidays, paid at their regular rate. If employees work during a holiday, they're paid at time and a half of their regular rate.
Example 1: Configuration
To configure the rule for this example:
- Enter 8 in the Holiday premium hours field.
- In the Holiday premium pay code setting, select a pay code. In this example, the Hol pay code is selected.
- In the Holiday premium pay category setting, click Reg so that employees are paid at their regular pay rate for their holiday pay.
- Select the Apply holiday overtime checkbox.
- Enter 1.5 in the Holiday overtime Rate value field.
- In the Pay codes eligible for Holiday overtime setting, click WRK.
Example 1: Results
In this example result, the employee works an 8-hour shift on Boxing Day with a 30-minute meal break.
Because Boxing Day is a holiday, the rule pays the 8-hour holiday premium at the employee’s regular rate.
The Apply holiday overtime checkbox is selected, so the 7.5 hours of eligible work on the holiday earns the holiday overtime rate of time and a half. After the rule runs, it converts the pay rate of the eligible work to the overtime rate.
The rule multiplies the employee’s regular rate by 1.5 because BlendedRate was selected in the rule’s configuration and the Holiday overtime Rate value is 1.5.
Example 2: Business Needs
Employees are paid a $200 bonus on public holidays. However, they don’t earn any overtime for working holidays.
Example 2: Configuration
To configure the rule for this example:
- Enter 1 in the Holiday premium hours field.
- Enter 200 in the Holiday premium rate field.
- In the Holiday premium pay code setting, select a pay code. In this example, the Hol pay code is selected.
- In the Holiday premium pay code setting, click Reg.
- In the Holiday overtime Rate type drop-down list, click Multiplier.
- In the Holiday overtime Rate output drop-down list, click BlendedRate.
Example 2: Results
On each public holiday, Dayforce pays out the holiday premium.
Employees are paid at their regular rate when they work on a holiday.