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I am scheduled to work fewer hours next week due to the office being closed on holiday for the 4th of July. I would like to email my boss to ask I can work a few extra hours each day to make up for the lost time.

I don't know whether or not this would count as 'overtime', since I'm the one asking my manager if I can work the extra hours.

How should I ask my boss if I can work extra hours to make up for a work holiday?

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  • Why would you want to make up the time? I assume July the 4th is paid holiday. I live in Canada and Canada Day is a paid holiday. The reason you are given the time off, is to have it off.
    – SaggingRufus
    Commented Jun 30, 2017 at 16:58
  • Are you paid by the hour and do you not get paid for the holiday?
    – Neo
    Commented Jun 30, 2017 at 17:10
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    @MisterPositive I'm currently working as a paid intern. I'll need to ask a co-worker whether interns are paid during holidays.
    – Stevoisiak
    Commented Jun 30, 2017 at 17:15
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    Don't ask any random co-worker, ask HR or your boss if there is no HR.
    – HLGEM
    Commented Jun 30, 2017 at 18:38
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    In the US, depending on how your job is classified exempt versus non-exempt), you might not be able to work extra hours to make up the time, because over 8 hours in a day would put you into overtime, even if the total for the week is still only 40 hours.
    – mkennedy
    Commented Jun 30, 2017 at 19:01

3 Answers 3

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How should I ask my boss if I can work extra hours to make up for a work holiday?

Assuming you do not get paid for the holiday ( which you very well may ), you could ask this way: I would prefer to not lose any money over the holiday, could I work 2 extra hours a day over the other 4 days this week to make up for it?

( thus keeping you at 40 hours )

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  • @StevenVascellaro Noted and Updated.
    – Neo
    Commented Jun 30, 2017 at 17:18
  • this language seems perfect to me
    – Fattie
    Commented Jun 30, 2017 at 17:26
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I was an intern at one time that had this same problem. Since our work weeks were from Sunday to Saturday my boss had no problem letting us work extra to make up for the holidays that happened during the week. If your work weeks end half way through the week (rarely happens) then it could be an issue of the overtime for one week but not the other. Figure out what your paid weeks are (usually on pay stubs) and go from there.

The way that I normally phrase it to my boss is:

"Can I make up some hours for the (Holiday here, eg: 4th of July) on other days that I work by either coming in early or staying later?"

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National holidays in the US are not guaranteed to be paid. If you are a W2 FTE (full-time employee on your company's payroll), then consult your employee handbook which should outline your vacation & holiday plan for the company.

If you are a 1099 contractor or working through a third party (staffing/recruiting firm), then first consult the person responsible for your payroll to understand how holidays work. Then bring your problem with a solution to your manager.

An example might be: "In order to avoid working less hours and therefore being paid less for the week of 7/3/2017, I'm planning to work four 10-hour days Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Please confirm this is approved."

Make sure to get the approval in writing.

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