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Winter Contracts: What Changes November to February?

Our postings data cannot yet say whether winter brings more travel therapy contracts or different pay, because its weekly snapshots begin in August 2026 and hold no November-to-February month. What a winter contract does change is the calendar, so ask how holiday weeks, facility closures and time off are paid before you sign.

By ProTherapy Staffing, published October 25, 2026.

Is winter a busy season for travel therapy jobs?

Some guides say it is. This site states a demand pattern only when the postings data shows one, with the month named, and for winter it does not yet. The weekly travel PT pay report keeps one snapshot of the job feed per date, never changed afterwards, and its oldest snapshot is from August 2026. The monthly pay index has issues for August, September and October 2026. None of that covers a winter month, so a claim that winter is busier, or pays more, would not come from this data.

What the data shows now is October. The Travel Therapy Pay Index, which ProTherapy Staffing, the publisher of this site, computes from its live contracts, gives these October 2026 medians for advertised weekly gross pay before tax:

Those are October figures, not a winter forecast. Because each weekly snapshot is kept, a comparison with a winter month becomes possible once the snapshots cover one. Until then, the pay transparency board shows what open contracts are advertised at today.

How do you judge winter demand at one facility?

Instead of a season, ask about the contract in front of you. The reason a facility wants a traveler tells you more about its winter than a national pattern would:

Write down the answers and compare them with what the contract says. A recruiter's description of demand is not a term of the contract; the cancellation clause and the minimum hours are.

What should you ask about hours in a holiday week?

A contract that runs from November to February crosses Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. If your contract sets a minimum number of paid hours each week, read how it treats a week with a holiday in it:

The last question matters because some contracts reduce the stipends in a week with fewer hours worked. The sick days guide covers what a missed shift can cost when pay is tied to hours worked.

Do travel therapists get paid for Thanksgiving or Christmas?

Only if your contract says so. The Department of Labor says: “The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not require payment for time not worked, such as vacations or holidays (federal or otherwise). These benefits are generally a matter of agreement between an employer and an employee (or the employee's representative).” For a traveler, the employer is the agency, so holiday pay is a term to look for in the agency's contract.

Working on the holiday itself does not earn extra pay under federal law either. The Department's overtime page says covered employees “must receive overtime pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek of at least one and one-half times their regular rates of pay,” and that “The FLSA does not require overtime pay for work on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, or regular days of rest, unless overtime hours are worked on such days.” So ask whether the agency pays a holiday rate, which holidays it covers, and whether that rate applies to a holiday you are scheduled to work or only to one you pick up.

If you want holiday pay, minimum hours and time off written into a winter contract before you sign, ask a ProTherapy recruiter: Find my next contract.

Which holidays fall inside a winter contract?

The federal holiday dates from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management mark the weeks to ask about:

Those dates are federal employees' holidays, not a facility's schedule. Ask the facility which of them it closes on, whether you are expected to work any of them, and how a closed day is paid. A clinic or a school may keep a different calendar from a hospital, and a school contract may include a winter break.

How do you ask for time off on a winter contract?

Ask before you sign, not after you arrive. Put the dates you want off in writing with your answer to the offer, and ask for them to be written into the contract. Then ask:

The contract negotiation guide covers how to raise terms like these while they are still open. For the living side of a winter contract, from winter rentals to road conditions and holidays away from home, see living on a winter contract on our sister site.

Frequently asked questions

Is winter a busy season for travel therapy jobs?

Our postings data cannot say yet. Its weekly snapshots begin in August 2026 and the pay index has issues for August, September and October 2026, so no winter month is in the data. Ask about demand at the specific facility instead: why the position is open, and what happens if the caseload drops.

Do travel therapists get holiday pay?

Not by federal law. The Department of Labor says the FLSA does not require payment for time not worked, such as holidays, and does not require overtime pay for work on holidays unless overtime hours are worked on those days. Holiday pay is a matter of agreement, so look for it in your contract.

What happens to my hours if the facility closes for a holiday?

It depends on the contract. Ask whether a closed day counts toward your minimum paid hours, whether you can make the hours up, and whether the stipends change in a short week, and get the answers written into the contract.

Sources

From ProTherapy Staffing ProTherapy Staffing — PT-Owned · Nationwide View Jobs →