Louisiana Holiday Laws
Louisiana does not have a law in regards to holiday pay, nor is there a
federal law on the subject. This means that employers are not required
to allow employees to have days off for holidays. Federal law does
state that a company or business may be open three hundred sixty-five
days a year and thus requires employees to work whenever in business.
Federal holidays do not mean that all employees in the United States
are to have days off. Federal holidays only are reserved for government
agencies and post offices. Public service institutions require
employees to work, despite holidays, every day of the year. These
include hospitals, police departments, fire departments, hotels, gas
stations, and others.
There is also no federal or Louisiana state law requiring employers to
pay employees more on holidays. A business or company may provide the
benefit of higher wages on holidays worked but are under no requirement
to do so. A company may choose to close on holidays, thus providing
employees with holidays off.
Family and Medical Leave
Louisiana follows the federal law in regards to allowing leave. The
federal Family and Medical Leave Act allows employees to take a leave
of absence from employment for medical or family reasons. This leave
will not exceed twelve weeks and cannot be spread among several months.
Family and medical leave is unpaid but does provide employees with job
protection while on leave. A company or business cannot legally
terminate an employee because he or she is on leave or if she is
expectant.
Family and medical leave usually includes maternity leave, the care for
an ill child, hospitalization, the care for an elderly parent, or any
other psychological or medical reason. Under United States law
maternity leave allows a mother to care for a newborn or adoptive
parents to bond with their new children.
When an employee is on leave, a company or business may hire a
temporary employee until the employee on leave returns. Often times
other employees will divide tasks until the employee on leave returns.
Upon returning from leave an employee is entitled to his or her former
employment or employment of the same salary and benefits. If an
employee desires to return from leave sooner than twelve week, it is at
the discretion of the employer.
Overtime and Payment
The 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act states that when employees work more
than forty hours in one week they are to be paid one and a half times
their normal wages for the added hours. Overtime does not apply to
employees who have fluctuating workweeks and are paid the same amount
each week without regard to how many hours are worked.
In 2009 the federal minimum wage rose to seven dollars and twenty-five
cents an hour. This required all states to raise their minimum wages to
the federal level if not higher. Louisiana has the same minimum wage
requirement as the federal minimum wage. Under this law employers are
not permitted to pay their employees less than the minimum requirement
but may pay more if desiring.