Does your boss remind you of Ebenezer Scrooge? He might if hedoesn’t pay you for Christmas — and the bad news is that he doesn’thave to.

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According to a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, there’s nolaw that says you have to be paid for a holiday, regardless ofwhether it’s Christmas, New Year’s Day, or the Fourth of July.

And if your boss is sufficiently Scrooge-like to make you workon Christmas, he doesn’t have to give you any additionalcompensation — unless you’re working more than 40 hours in thatweek.

Unions might have negotiated holiday pay — 79 percent of unionmembers are paid for holidays, according to the Bureau of LaborStatistics — while 75 percent of nonunion employees are alsoremunerated for holidays. Since it’s not a requirement, it’s a goodthing for workers that many employers do pay employees for holidays(maybe they don’t want to look like a cross between Scrooge and theGrinch).

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The BLS says that 75 percent of the civilian workforce (about116 million people) get paid holidays; that breaks down to 77percent of workers for private industry getting paid, but slightlyfewer — 67 percent in state and local government — able to count ona holiday check.

But lower-paid workers aren’t so fortunate. Just 40 percent ofpeople in the lowest 10 percent of the workforce, based on theaverage wage, get paid holidays. It’s only slightly better — 53percent — for workers in the lowest 25 percent.

The report cited Kyra Kudick, an associate editor at J.J. Keller& Associates, a compliance resource company, saying that beinggenerous enough to pay on holidays helps in both employeerecruitment and retention. Kudick said in the report, “Workers whofeel valued and have a work-life balance want to stay with theiremployers.”

But that doesn’t mean employers necessarily care about beingthought of as the 21^st-century version of Scrooge — andif they don’t, there’s not much their workers can do about it.Kudick added, “[Employers] really can set their own requirements.With very, very few exceptions, an employer does not need toprovide holiday pay on federally recognized holidays.”

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Federal and state laws may compel pay for hours worked beyond40, and of course labor contracts with unions must be honored, butif an employer decides to stay open on a holiday, there’s no lawthat says he can’t keep his employees from being home forChristmas.