Holidays with paid time off in the United States

In the United States there are a number of observed holidays where employees receive paid time off. The labor force in the United States comprises about 62% (as of 2014) of the general population. In the United States, 97% of the private sector businesses determine what days this sector of the population gets paid time off, according to a study by the Society for Human Resource Management. The following holidays are observed by the majority of US businesses with paid time off: New Year's Day, New Year's Eve, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, the day after known as Black Friday, Christmas Eve and Christmas. There are also numerous holidays on the state and local level that are observed to varying degrees.
This list of holidays is based on the official list of federal holidays by year from the US Government. The holidays however are at the discretion of employers whose statistics are measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Another list from the Society for Human Resource Management shows actual percentages of employers offering paid time off for each holiday. The term "major holiday" (bolded) coincides for those holidays that 90% or more of employers offered paid time off. In 2020, Nike became the first company to mark Juneteenth as a paid holiday.
An academic year typically spans from early fall to early summer, with two or three months of summer vacation marking the end of the year. K-12 public schools generally observe local, state, and federal holidays, plus additional days off around Thanksgiving, the period from before Christmas until after New Year's Day, a spring break (usually a week in April) and sometimes a winter break (a week in February or March). Two or three days per year are sometimes devoted to professional development for teachers and students have the day off.
Most colleges and universities divide the school year into two semesters. The fall semester often begins the day after Labor Day in early September and runs until mid-December. The spring semester typically starts in the middle or end of January and runs until May. Winter and summer classes might be offered in January and May–August. Major federal, state, and local holidays are often observed, including the day after and usually before Thanksgiving. Spring break is usually a week in March or early April, and in elementary and secondary school and college party culture traditionally involves a warm-weather trip.
Unscheduled weather-related cancellations and emergency cancellations can also affect school calendars.
When taking summer school or summer camp schedules into account, the Independence Day holiday on July 4 is usually a scheduled holiday observance for which the summer program closes.
The federal government sector labor force consisted of about 2,729,000 (as of 2014) of the total labor force of 150,539,900, which is about 2% of the total labor force or about 1% of the total population. In addition, state and local governments consist of another 19,134,000 bringing the total government sector employees to about 15% of the total labor force. This sector of the population is entitled to paid time off designated as federal holidays by Congress in Title V of the United States Code (5 U.S.C. § 6103). Both federal and state government employees generally observe the same federal holidays.
US banks generally observe the federal holidays because of their reliance on the U.S. Federal Reserve for certain activities such as wire transfers and ACH transactions. For example, JP Morgan Chase observes all federal holidays except Columbus Day, while U.S. Bank observes all of them.
The New York Stock Exchange also closely follows the federal holidays except for Columbus Day. However, the agency also has extra holidays on the day before Independence Day and Good Friday.
In general, most state governments observe the same holidays that the federal government observes. However, while that is true for most states, every state includes and omits holidays to fit the culture relevant to its population. "All federal holidays" in state observations below excludes Inauguration Day, which is only observed by Washington, DC, and federal employees in that area.
Lincoln's Birthday (February 12) was removed from California's education holiday calendar in 2009.
Florida's laws separately defines "paid holidays" versus "legal holidays", which does not have any obligation to include as "paid holidays".
Florida's laws separate the definitions between paid versus legal holidays. The following list shows only the legal holidays that were not defined as "paid holidays":
Texas has three types of state holidays: those on which all state offices are closed, and "partial staffing" and "optional" holidays on which offices are open but with reduced staffing.
The following days are full holidays where all state offices are closed:
Texas law designates that the state businesses be "partially staffed" on the following holidays. These holidays can be replaced with an optional holiday per the state employee's choice, but will give up one of these in lieu of the optional holiday.
Texas law allows a state employee to replace a partial staffing holiday with one of the following holidays. On these holidays, the state agency is generally required to stay open with minimum staff.
Wisconsin's public schools are obligated to observe the 21 days designated by Wisconsin Statute section 118.02 on the designated day unless the day falls on Saturday or Sunday, in which case would move the observance to either the preceding Friday or following Monday. The statutes require the public schools to include instruction relating to the holidays. In this list of holidays, all schools remain open.
While most federal holidays are observed at the state level, some of these holidays are observed with different names, are observed on different days, or completely not observed in some states of the United States. ^ a. For example, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is known officially as Martin Luther King, Jr./Civil Rights Day in Arizona, and New Hampshire, Birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Florida, and Maryland, Martin Luther King Jr. / Idaho Human Rights Day in Idaho, Robert E. Lee/Martin Luther King Birthday in Alabama, and Martin Luther King's and Robert E. Lee's Birthdays in Mississippi. ^ b. Washington's Birthday is known officially as President's Day in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Maryland, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming, Washington-Lincoln Day in Colorado (CRS 24-11-101), Ohio, Lincoln/Washington/Presidents' Day in Arizona, George Washington's Birthday and Daisy Gatson Bates Day in Arkansas, Presidents' Day in Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Vermont, Washington's Birthday/President's Day in Maine, Presidents Day in Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, and Oregon, Lincoln's and Washington's Birthday in Montana, Washington and Lincoln Day in Utah, and George Washington Day in Virginia. ^ The day after Thanksgiving is observed in lieu of Columbus Day in Minnesota. ^ Columbus Day is listed as a state holiday in New Hampshire although state offices remain open. ^ President's Day, Good Friday (11am–3pm), Juneteenth Day (June 19), Columbus Day, Veteran's Day, Partisan Primary Election Day, and General Election Day are listed as a state holiday in Wisconsin although state offices remain open.