Payment of Holiday Pay to Part-Time Employees

A question arose in connection with the observance of the Labor Day holiday at the Army Commissary, Fort Campbell, Kentucky, as it pertained to part-time civilian employees. The Commissary employees are on a Tuesday through Saturday tour of duty, and in order to avoid paying holiday pay to full-time employees, the Army closed the Commissary the Tuesday after Labor Day. The part-time employees were told they could either take annual leave, leave without pay, or work at the basic rate of pay. Subsequently, a part-time employee filed a grievance seeking premium pay for working on the Tuesday. GAO stated that the Army regulation providing for the observance of Monday holidays on a Sunday-Monday-Tuesday basis appeared to be consistent with the applicable laws, Executive Orders, and previous GAO decisions. With regard to the payment of holiday premium pay, part-time employees are entitled to compensation for a holiday which falls within their regularly scheduled workweek. However, since part-time employees are not entitled to a day in lieu of a holiday which falls on a non-workday, they are not entitled to holiday premium pay for work performed that day.