Can employers dicipline you for taking off on mlk if they dont recognize it as a holiday?
Certainly. There is no requirement in law that anyone recognize any holiday. They can do it for Memorial Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving etc… too. There are many Federal/State holidays that are NOT “company” holidays (e.g. I’ve never worked anywhere that gave me off Veterans day or President’s day.) Usually it is Government jobs or Union jobs that will give you many holidays. Most employers if they give any just recognize the “big ones”: Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. If you get more than that you should count yourself lucky. Even if they DO have a given day as a “paid holiday” there is no requirement that they let you have the day off – often they will simply pay your for the holiday AND the hours you work that day. In fact many years ago I felt I was being ripped off because I got paid “time and a half” for working on a holiday. I pointed out to my employer that if I didn’t work at all I would have gotten “time” and on any day that wasn’
