Holiday Pay Laws in Washington
Washington (WA) · Holiday pay · Last reviewed September 2026
Paid holidays
Not required
Premium pay
Not required
Set by
Employer policy
Are Employers Required to Pay for Holidays?
Neither federal law nor Washington requires private employers to offer paid holidays or to pay extra for working on a holiday. Holiday pay is a benefit you choose to offer, not a legal mandate.
The exception is when a contract, collective bargaining agreement, or your own written policy promises it, at that point it becomes enforceable.
How Most Employers Handle It
Common practice is a set list of paid holidays (often 6, 11 days a year), and in some industries, premium pay for employees who work them. Whatever you decide, put it in writing so expectations are clear and consistent.
Tracking Holidays
A time clock with a holiday calendar lets you mark paid holidays and keep them cleanly separated from worked hours when you run payroll.
Washington Labor-Law Snapshot
Washington does not require private employers to pay a holiday premium, so holiday pay is set by policy. For context, the Washington minimum wage is $17.13/hour (about $9.88 above the federal $7.25) and overtime runs about $25.70/hour.
For Washington employers these rules interact with timekeeping: accurate, audit-logged hours drive overtime, sick-leave accrual, final pay, and break records. Washington requires meal breaks on longer shifts and requires paid rest breaks; a final paycheck is due by the next regular payday when an employee resigns. Confirm current Washington figures with the state labor office before relying on any single number.
What Washington Employers Should Keep on File
Federal law requires employers to keep payroll records for at least three years, and the records used to calculate pay, such as time cards and work schedules, for at least two. Several states require longer. The practical standard is simple: if a former employee filed a claim tomorrow, could you evidence every hour you paid and every hour you did not?
The records that matter are the daily start and end times, the total hours for each workweek, the regular rate and any premium, all additions and deductions, and the pay period the payment covers. Keeping the underlying punches matters more than keeping the summary, because a total nobody can trace back is not evidence.
Where the record is missing or unreliable, the employee's reasonable recollection is generally accepted, and the employer carries the burden of disproving it. That is the single strongest argument for an automatic time clock over a paper sheet reconstructed at the end of the week.
How Washington Compares with the States Next Door
Minimum wage across the line: Idaho $7.25, Oregon $15.55. Washington is at $17.13.
If you employ people on both sides of the Washington border, the stricter of the two states usually governs each worker, based on where the work is actually performed rather than where your business is registered.
Free calculators for this
Overtime Pay Calculator
Time-and-a-half and double-time from an hourly rate and the hours worked.
Time Card Calculator
Add up a week of clock-in and clock-out times, minus unpaid breaks, in decimal hours.
PTO Calculator
Paid time off accrual, by hours worked or from an annual award.
All of them run in your browser, with no signup. See all nine calculators.
Official Sources
More Washington Guides
Holiday Pay in Other States
Washington Holiday Pay: Frequently Asked Questions
Does Washington require holiday pay?
No, Washington does not require private employers to provide paid holidays or premium pay for working a holiday. It's set by your policy unless a contract says otherwise.
Do you get time and a half on holidays in Washington?
Not by law. Holiday premium pay is a voluntary benefit in Washington unless an employer policy or contract promises it.
Track Washington Hours the Easy Way
Kloqk is a free time clock that handles overtime, breaks, and payroll-ready reports.
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