Sponsors
The bill guarantees higher pay and enforceability for employees who work federal holidays, benefiting workers’ incomes and remedies, but it raises costs and legal risks for employers and leaves some worker categories excluded.
Employees who work on federal legal public holidays will receive at least time-and-a-half pay, increasing take-home pay for holiday work.
Workers will be able to recover unpaid holiday premium pay through existing FLSA private actions, enabling collective and individual wage claims with potential liquidated damages.
State and local governments (and the workers they cover) can continue to maintain or require higher holiday pay than the federal floor, preserving stronger local protections.
Small-business owners who operate on federal holidays will face higher labor costs because holiday work must be paid at 1.5x, increasing operating expenses.
Employers (especially smaller ones) will face greater litigation exposure and potential backpay plus liquidated damages for unpaid holiday pay, raising legal risk and compliance costs.
Some categories of workers remain exempt under the updated §213(f), so certain employees will not receive the new holiday premium, producing uneven coverage.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Introduced February 12, 2026 by Ruben Gallego · Last progress February 12, 2026
Requires employers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to pay employees at least one-and-one-half times their regular rate for work performed on "legal public holidays" (as defined by federal law). Treats unpaid holiday pay the same as unpaid minimum-wage and unpaid overtime claims for enforcement, penalties, and remedies under existing FLSA procedures, while preserving any higher state or federal holiday-pay rules and exempting certain employer categories already excluded under current FLSA provisions. Uses existing FLSA enforcement tools and penalties (no new agency or appropriation). The bill also makes multiple conforming edits across the FLSA, repeals one statutory provision, and adjusts the Portal-to-Portal statute of limitations to include holiday-pay claims, likely increasing employer payroll costs, administrative compliance, and potential litigation or enforcement actions.