In addition to federal/national holidays, many religious, ethnic and other traditional holidays populate the calendar as well as lighter celebrations. These are rarely observed by companies as public holidays (except Easter and usually also Good Friday); [11] Indeed, many are considered as opportunities for commercial advertising. Because of this commercialization, some critics apply the pejorative term Hallmark holiday to these days, after the Hallmark greeting card company. Although all current federal holidays have also been considered holidays in all 50 states, not all states are required to observe holidays on the same days as federal holidays. Many states also have additional holidays that are not observed by the federal government. [4] Many businesses also observe certain holidays, which are also not imposed by a government agency. Although the popularity of each holiday cannot be easily measured, Christmas is the holiday with the highest greeting card sales. [8] Large retail stores such as malls and malls only close on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas, but remain open all other holidays (with early closures on Christmas Eve and New Year`s Eve and sometimes other important holidays). With a retail market that rapidly intensified in the 2010s, retailers increasingly opened Thanksgiving nights and evenings to extend Black Friday and the holiday shopping season, but the Covid-19 pandemic has significantly reduced this practice. [9] [10] Virtually all major companies watch and close on public holidays (New Year`s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas).
Some stores other than retail stores close the day after Thanksgiving, while others (such as federal banks and post offices) are not allowed to close on that day. Some small businesses that are usually open on Sundays close on Easter Sunday when they expect to have very few customers that day. [11] *This holiday is referred to as Washington`s birthday in Section 6103(a) of Title 5 of the United States Code, the law establishing public holidays for federal employees. Although other institutions such as state and local governments and private companies may use different names, our policy is to always refer to holidays by the names provided by law. The holiday calendar in the United States is largely influenced by the federal holiday calendar, but is controlled by private sector employers, who provide 62% of the entire U.S. population with paid time off. The major Islamic holidays of Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha have been recognized in the United States. The notoriety of these holidays can be found in the calendars published by the main calendar manufacturers. [83] [84] [85] According to Al-Jazeera, schools in New York and Michigan (mainly Dearborn) could begin to close while observing all Muslim holidays.
[86] The new year has arrived and it is time to start the process for 2020. To help you, we`ve compiled a comprehensive list of 2020 federal holidays, in addition to other practical information that will be useful to employers. Paid leave is generally defined as a day that falls within the employee`s work week. If a public holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, that holiday will be postponed to Friday or Monday for business reasons. Most employers follow a vacation calendar similar to U.S. federal holidays, which are observed by state employers and state-regulated employers, with exceptions or supplements. When an employer grants leave to its employees, it is not required by law to pay employees for that period. Although many states recognize most or all federal holidays as holidays, the federal government cannot enact laws to force them to do so.
In addition, states may recognize days other than holidays that are not federal holidays. For example, the state of Texas recognizes all federal holidays except Columbus Day and additionally recognizes the Friday after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Boxing Day as holidays. [21] In addition, Texas does not follow the federal rule of closing the previous Friday if a holiday falls on a Saturday, or the following Monday when a holiday falls on a Sunday (offices are open on these Fridays or Mondays), but has “partially busy holidays” (such as March 2, Texas Independence Day) and “optional holidays” (such as Good Friday). [21] Federal law also provides for the declaration of other holidays by the President of the United States. In general, the president will provide a rationale for increasing the day, urging people in the United States to mark the day “with appropriate ceremonies and activities.” Examples of holidays declared by the president were the funeral days of former presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and Gerald Ford; Federal offices were closed and employees were given paid leave. There are no national holidays during which the law requires the closure of all shops. Federal holidays are only set for certain chartered businesses and regulated by the state, government contractors, and the city of Washington, DC. All other public holidays are created by the States; Most states also allow local jurisdictions (cities, towns, etc.) to establish their own local holidays. As a result, public holidays have not always been regulated at the federal level, and federal law does not regulate business openings.
The following list is an example of proposed statutory holidays and the reasons why they are not observed at the federal level. Some of these holidays are observed at the state level. If you`re designing a paid leisure policy or handling PTO requests, consider this list of 2020 federal holidays For example, Muslim employees may wish to take the time to celebrate the withers of their 2 major religious holidays: Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha. To account for this, many employers offer a floating holiday during which an employee receives all the days off that can be used to celebrate their religious holidays. Religious and cultural holidays in the United States are characterized by a variety of religious beliefs and practices. However, the First Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that “Congress shall not enact any law respecting or prohibiting the free exercise of religion. and Article VI states that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification for any public office or endowment in the United States.” As a result, various religious denominations flourished and perished in the United States. A majority of Americans report that religion plays a “very important” role in their lives, a proportion unique among developed countries. [43] At the employer`s discretion, other non-federal statutory holidays such as New Year`s Eve, Christmas Eve and the day after Thanksgiving are common additions to the list of paid holidays, while Columbus Day and Veterans Day are common omissions.
In addition to paid holidays, there are festivals and gastronomic holidays, which are also widely accepted, based on the sale of goods and services usually associated with these holidays. Halloween and Valentine`s Day are examples of uncompensated holidays widely celebrated. Federal law (5 U.S.C. 6103) establishes the holidays listed on these pages for federal employees. Please note that most federal employees work Monday to Friday. For these employees, when a statutory holiday falls on a non-working day – Saturday or Sunday – the holiday is generally observed on Monday (if the holiday falls on Sunday) or Friday (if the holiday falls on Saturday). Federal holidays in the United States are the eleven calendar dates called public holidays by the U.S. government. On U.S. federal holidays, non-essential federal offices are closed, and federal government employees are paid for vacations.