Survey: 97% of U.S. employers provide Memorial Day paid day off

NINETY-SEVEN percent of American employers will provide a paid day off for Memorial Day, according to a Bloomberg BNA survey of more than 100 human resource professionals.
NINETY-SEVEN percent of American employers will provide a paid day off for Memorial Day, according to a Bloomberg BNA survey of more than 100 human resource professionals.

NEW YORK – Ninety-seven percent of American employers will provide a paid day off for Memorial Day, according to a Bloomberg BNA survey of more than 100 human resource professionals.

More than two in five employers, 43 percent, however, said that they will require some employees to work on the holiday.

“Along with Christmas, New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving, Labor Day and Independence Day, Memorial Day is one of the six paid days off that nearly all American workers enjoy,” Matt Sottong, Bloomberg BNA’s managing editor, surveys and research reports, said in a statement.

“However, as with most federal holidays where most Americans receive a paid day off, some will be required to punch the clock, particularly technical workers and public safety and security personnel. Eighty-five percent of those required to work on the holiday will receive additional compensation for their work,” Sottong said.

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Nearly one-fifth, or 17 percent, of all responding organizations will have technical staff on duty on Memorial Day, and 15 percent will have security or public safety workers report for work. Thirteen percent of organizations will have professional employees at work on Memorial Day, 12 percent will ensure managers or supervisors are working on the holiday, 11 percent will have service and maintenance employees on duty, and 10 percent will have sales and customer service personnel on the clock.

The survey also found that those who are required to work on the holiday will receive extra compensation, as 85 percent of organizations reported providing something more than regular pay for the holiday’s work, such as time-and-a-half pay (28 percent), both extra pay and compensatory time (20 percent), double-time pay (15 percent), an “other” form of extra pay such as “double-time-and-a-half” (15 percent) or comp time in addition to regular pay (7 percent). Only 11 percent of organizations that will require at least some workers to be on duty on Memorial Day will provide just regular pay.

Eighty percent of large organizations, those with more than 1,000 employees, will require at least some employees to work on Memorial Day, compared with 31 percent of smaller organizations. Fifty-nine percent of non-business organizations — such as hospitals, government agencies and municipalities — will require at least some employees to be on staff on Memorial Day as compared with 35 percent of manufacturers and non-manufacturers.

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