Holiday

A holiday is a special day which may include celebrating, or simply staying home instead of working. The word is derived from the word holy. Most cultures have some holidays to help with the well being and positive attitude of their populace, often based on the culture's predominant religion or a significant event in its history.

In the United States, some holidays are permanently set on a specific day of a specific week in a month (for example, Labor Day is always observed on the first Monday of September), while some are set of specific dates (for example, Independence Day is always observed on July 4, subject to rules below when that date falls on a Saturday or a Sunday).

State and local governments are not required to observe Federal holidays, but many do observe all or most of them as holidays (for example, Texas observes all Federal holidays except Columbus Day). In addition, they also may observe holidays with special local or statewide significance (for example, Texas observes April 21 as a "partial staffing holiday"; April 21 is San Jacinto Day, the day on which Texas won its independence over Mexico) as well as religious holidays (Texas allows the following days to be "optional holidays" in lieu of "partial staffing holidays: Good Friday, Yom Kippur, and Rosh Hashanah).^[1]

While banks are required to observe Federal holidays (and the stock market is closed on all but two of them), private businesses are not required to do so, and (outside of the more notable days) may open to capture business from people doing errands on a day off.

Federal Holidays[edit]

The following holidays are observed by the United States Government as official paid holidays for Federal employees under 5 USC 6103:^[2]

• New Year's Day (January 1)
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (third Monday in January)^[3]
• Washington's Birthday (third Monday in February)^[4]
• Memorial Day (last Monday in May)^[5]
• Juneteenth National Independence Day (June 19)^[6]
• Independence Day (July 4)
• Labor Day (first Monday in November)^[7]
• Columbus Day (second Monday in October)^[8]
• Veterans Day (November 11)^[9]
• Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday in November)^[10]
• Christmas Day (December 25)

In addition the following days are, at times, Federal holidays:

• Inauguration Day (January 20)^[11]
• Christmas Eve (December 24)^[12]
• By tradition, on the date of a funeral for a former President, if declared such by the sitting President. The last three sitting Presidents who have died (Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, and George H. W. Bush) have had their funeral dates declared such.

Under Federal law and regulation, generally regardless of a full-time employee's schedule, an employee receives only eight hours holiday pay (or four, if only half a day is declared). So if an employee works a 9-hour or 10-hour shift, s/he must either work the remaining hours, or use another form of leave to cover them. Part-time employees paid holiday pay only if they are scheduled to work on that day of the week.

Several new Federal holidays have been proposed, by members of both political parties, including:

• Rosa Parks Day^[13]
• September 11 Day^[14]
• Election Day^[15] (this is a holiday in many countries, some states, and in some union contracts it is either a full day off, or employees are given time off to go vote)
• Diwali (Hindu New Year)^[16]
• Lunar (Chinese) New Year^[17]
• Harriet Tubman Day^[18]
• Gold Star Families Day^[19]

Other Holidays[edit]

Some of these holidays may be observed by states and local governments, and/or private businesses, while others have become more of a festival and not an actual holiday:

• St. Valentine's Day
• Saint Patrick's Day
• Good Friday
• Resurrection Sunday (Easter)
• Halloween
• The Friday immediately after Thanksgiving Day
• New Year's Eve

References[edit]