“Isn’t Good Friday a SAG holiday?”

“Is Easter a holiday or not?”

“Do I qualify for holiday pay today?”

These are the kinds of questions stand-ins may ask when they are working as a union stand-in.

Some stand-ins may believe that holidays are decreed by SAG-AFTRA, and thereby if “it’s a SAG-AFTRA holiday” when you’re working, then you qualify for holiday pay.

That thinking would be incorrect.

Rather, what date constitutes a holiday depends on what SAG-AFTRA negotiated in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) under which you are working.

With that in mind, not all of CBAs have the same holidays! So whether you qualify for holiday pay or not when working on a certain day can, understandably, be confusing.

Below, we cover holidays based on different SAG-AFTRA CBAs. Keep in mind, these are the holidays as of the publication date, and SAG-AFTRA can successfully negotiate different, fewer, or additional holidays in future bargaining.

The Theatrical Agreement

The Theatrical Agreement covers feature films.

For stand-ins, the following are holidays under the Theatrical Agreement:

  • New Year’s Day
  • Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday
  • Presidents’ Day
  • Good Friday
  • Memorial Day
  • Juneteenth
  • Independence Day (aka July 4th)
  • Labor Day
  • Thanksgiving Day
  • The Day after Thanksgiving Day
  • Christmas Day

For most if not all of these holidays, if it falls on a Saturday, the preceding Friday shall be considered the holiday, and if a holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be considered the holiday (“except that on distant location, Saturday holidays will be recognized on Saturday“).

If the production is shooting outside the United States, some holidays may be swapped.  For example, for Canadian productions, Memorial Day and July 4th may be swapped for the following holidays, as long as they meet certain conditions negotiated in 2017:

  • Victoria Day
  • Canada Day

The Television Agreement

The Television Agreement covers most dramatic television (except for soap operas and some other kinds of dramatic television).

The holidays under the Theatrical Agreement are the same under the Television Agreement.  So, for stand-ins, the following are the holidays under the Television Agreement:

  • New Year’s Day
  • Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday
  • Presidents’ Day
  • Good Friday
  • Memorial Day
  • Juneteenth
  • Independence Day (aka July 4th)
  • Labor Day
  • Thanksgiving Day
  • The Day after Thanksgiving Day
  • Christmas Day

For most if not all of these holidays, if it falls on a Saturday, the preceding Friday shall be considered the holiday, and if a holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be considered the holiday (“except that on distant location, Saturday holidays will be recognized on Saturday“).

If the production is shooting outside the United States, some holidays may be swapped.  For example, for Canadian productions, Memorial Day and July 4th may be swapped for the following holidays, as long as they meet certain conditions negotiated in 2017:

  • Victoria Day
  • Canada Day

The Network Television Code

The Network Television Code (aka “the Netcode”) covers other television like soap operas, game shows, talk shows, variety shows, and promos.

The Netcode is effectively an old AFTRA contract, which explains why it tends to have different terms than the Theatrical and Television Agreements, which largely are old SAG contracts.

The Netcode has far fewer holidays than the Theatrical Agreement or the Television Agreement.

For stand-ins, the following are the holidays under the Netcode:

  • New Year’s Day
  • Christmas Day
  • Thanksgiving Day
  • A fourth holiday (as determined no later than December 15 of every year):
    • Martin Luther King’s Birthday
    • Memorial Day
    • July 4
    • Labor Day
    • Friday after Thanksgiving Day

The Commercials Contract

The Commercials Contract covers commercials.

For stand-ins, the following are the holidays under the Commercials Contract:

  • Memorial Day
  • Independence Day (July 4th)
  • Labor Day
  • Veterans Day
  • Thanksgiving Day
  • Christmas Day

If any of these holidays falls on Sunday, the following Monday shall be deemed the holiday.

The Corporate/Educational & Non-Broadcast Contract

The Corporate/Educational & Non-Broadcast Contract covers industrials and other motion-picture productions not for broadcast.

There do not appear to be any holiday provisions under the Corporate/Educational & Non-Broadcast Contract.

Holiday Pay

In general, when working on a holiday, stand-ins will find they are paid “double daily wage.”  This is the equivalent of double their hourly pay. However, this pay situation ultimately depends on the conditions of the specific contract.

In addition, generally, stand-ins will not have compounded overtime rates. In other words, stand-ins’ double hourly rate does not get “compounded” after eight hours of work. In effect, stand-ins working on a holiday do not have overtime rates.

For example, if your daily rate as a stand-in were $243, then your hourly rate would be about $30.38. On a holiday, you would make about $60.75 per hour all day (with an eight-hour minimum). You would not receive time-and-one-half or double time off of $60.75 should you go past eight hours of working. You would simply make about $60.75 all day, even in overtime.

Conclusion

As you can see, not all SAG-AFTRA contracts are the same, so if you find yourself working as a stand-in on a holiday that you personally recognize, SAG-AFTRA might not have negotiated it as a holiday — either on that contract or at all.

With that said, often you will find that working on a holiday is quite lucrative, so if you can, consider taking that rare stand-in work!

What experiences do you have as a stand-in working on a holiday? Do you have any additional insights? Share them in the comments below!