Does Memorial Day Pay Time and a Half? Holiday Pay Guide

Whether Memorial Day pays time and a half depends on your employer's policy, your state, and your contract — not on federal law. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not require private employers to pay premium rates for working on Memorial Day or any other federal holiday. So when you search "does memorial day pay time and a half," the answer is: it can, but only if your employer chooses to offer it, your union contract guarantees it, or your state requires it.

Many hourly workers ask "is memorial day time and a half" because they know other holidays sometimes trigger premium pay. The short answer to "is memorial day a time and a half holiday" is that Memorial Day is what the FLSA calls a regular workday. Holiday premium pay is a company benefit, a union contract term, or a rare state requirement — not a federal mandate. For "is working on memorial day time and a half," the answer depends entirely on who you work for.

Millions of Americans work on Memorial Day each year. Memorial Day 2025 falls on Monday, May 26. If you are searching for "memorial day 2025 time and a half" to plan your holiday earnings, this guide covers which companies pay the premium, how to calculate your pay, and when weekly overtime kicks in automatically.

The most common question is "do i get time and a half on memorial day." The honest answer is: check with your employer. But this guide gives you a strong starting point by breaking down the policies of the largest U.S. employers.

Which companies pay time and a half on Memorial Day?

If your search is "time and a half memorial day target" or "time and a half memorial day starbucks," you are likely an hourly worker trying to figure out your holiday pay. Below is a reference table covering the largest U.S. employers and whether they pay 1.5x on Memorial Day.

To answer "does target pay time and a half on memorial day": yes — Target pays time and a half (1.5x) to hourly team members on Memorial Day as one of its recognized premium holidays. To answer "does starbucks pay time and a half on memorial day": yes — Memorial Day is one of the six Starbucks time and a half holidays. For "memorial day pay is time and a half" when working at any of the above employers, you can expect 1.5x your base hourly rate for hours worked on Memorial Day.

FLSA weekly overtime and Memorial Day

Even if your employer does not offer a holiday premium, working on Memorial Day could still trigger time and a half through a different mechanism: FLSA weekly overtime. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires employers to pay 1.5x your regular rate for all hours worked over 40 in a single workweek. This applies regardless of whether any holiday falls in that week.

If you work 40 hours Monday through Thursday and then work an 8-hour shift on Memorial Day (Friday), you earn 8 hours at 1.5x under standard FLSA overtime rules — not because Memorial Day is special, but because you exceeded the 40-hour weekly threshold. This is the "time and a half memorial day" many workers experience even when their employer has no formal holiday pay policy.

Worked examples: Memorial Day shift pay

Here are three examples at different wage rates showing what you earn with and without a holiday premium on Memorial Day.

Federal government Memorial Day premium pay

Federal employees are in a different category. Under Title 5 U.S.C. 6103, federal employees who work on a federal holiday like Memorial Day receive premium pay. Memorial Day is one of the 11 federal holidays recognized by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Federal employees who are required to work on Memorial Day typically receive their regular rate plus an additional amount equal to their basic pay (effectively 2x) for holiday work, subject to certain caps and agency-specific rules.

This federal holiday premium pay applies to most non-exempt federal employees including postal workers, VA hospital staff, TSA officers, and other federal personnel who must work on federal holidays. Contractors working for the federal government are generally not covered by Title 5 holiday premium rules and instead follow their own company policies.

State-specific laws affecting Memorial Day pay

While no state specifically mandates time and a half on Memorial Day for private-sector workers, some states have laws that can affect your pay if you work on the holiday. Rhode Island has a historical blue law that restricts retail operations on certain holidays, though Memorial Day enforcement has relaxed in recent years. Massachusetts also has blue laws that affect which businesses can open on Memorial Day and what pay rates apply. In both states, workers who are legally permitted to work on Memorial Day may be entitled to premium pay under the state's Sunday and holiday pay regulations.

These state-level rules are relatively narrow. The vast majority of workers who receive time and a half on Memorial Day get it through their employer's voluntary holiday pay policy, not through state or federal law. Always check your state's department of labor website to confirm whether any holiday pay rules apply to your specific industry.