Federal Holidays: Evolution And Current Practices
Federal Holidays: Evolution andCurrent PracticesJacob R. StrausAnalyst on the CongressMay 9, 2014Congressional Research Service7-5700www.crs.govR41990CRS Report for CongressPrepared for Members and Committees of Congress
Federal Holidays: Evolution and Current PracticesSummaryThe United States has established the following 11 permanent federal holidays established by law,listed in the order they appear in the calendar: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday,Inauguration Day (every four years following a presidential election), George Washington’sBirthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day,Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. Although frequently called public or national holidays,these celebrations are only legally applicable to federal employees and the District of Columbia,as the states individually decide their own legal holidays.The first four congressionally designated federal holidays were created in 1870, when Congressgranted paid time off to federal workers in the District of Columbia for New Year’s Day,Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. In 1880, George Washington’sBirthday was included. In 1885, Congress extended holiday coverage for some holidays to allfederal employees. Although Thanksgiving Day was included in the first holiday bill of 1870, itwas not until 1941 that Congress specifically designated the fourth Thursday of November as theofficial date.Since 1888, Congress has added six federal holidays, creating Decoration Day (now MemorialDay) in 1888, Labor Day in 1894, Armistice Day (now Veterans Day) in 1938, Inauguration Dayin 1957 (quadrennially and only celebrated in the District of Columbia), Columbus Day in 1968,and Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday in 1983. In 1954, Armistice Day was broadened to honorAmericans who fought in World War II and the Korean conflict, and the name of the holiday waschanged to Veterans Day.In 1968, the Uniform Monday Holiday Act was enacted to “provide for uniform annualobservances” of Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, and Veterans Day. Additionally, theMonday Holiday Law established Columbus Day to be celebrated on the second Monday inOctober. In 1975, Veterans Day celebrations were returned to November 11 by Congress.Congressional Research Service
Federal Holidays: Evolution and Current PracticesContentsCreation of Federal Holidays . 1New Year’s Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day . 1Washington’s Birthday . 2Decoration Day/Memorial Day . 2Labor Day . 3Armistice Day/Veterans Day . 3Thanksgiving Day . 4Inauguration Day . 5Columbus Day . 6Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. 6Uniform Monday Holiday Act. 7Federal Holidays and Employee Pay . 8Recent Holiday Legislation . 9ContactsAuthor Contact Information. 10Acknowledgments . 10Congressional Research Service
Federal Holidays: Evolution and Current PracticesSince 1870, numerous proposals have been introduced in Congress to establish permanentfederal holidays. Only 11, however, have thus far become law.1 Although these patrioticcelebrations are frequently referred to as “national holidays,” legally they are onlyapplicable to federal employees and the District of Columbia. Neither Congress nor the Presidenthas asserted the authority to declare a “national holiday” that would be binding on the 50 states,as each state individually determines its legal holidays. Creating a holiday for federal employeesdoes, however, affect each state in a variety of ways, including the delivery of mail and conductof business with federal agencies.Federal holidays have been created for a number of reasons. In several instances, Congresscreated federal holidays after a sizeable number of states created state holidays. In otherinstances, Congress took the lead. Additionally, each holiday was designed to emphasize aparticular aspect of American heritage or to celebrate an event in American history.Creation of Federal HolidaysIn 1870, when Congress passed the first federal holiday law, the federal government employedapproximately 5,300 workers in Washington, DC, and another approximately 50,600 around thecountry.2 The distinction between federal employees working in the District of Columbia andthose elsewhere proved important because the initial holiday act only applied to the federalworkforce in Washington, DC. Federal employees in other parts of the country did not receiveholiday benefits until at least 1885, as federal holidays were initially interpreted as only applyingto federal workers in the District of Columbia.3 For more information on applicability of federalholidays to federal employees, see “Federal Holidays and Employee Pay” below.New Year’s Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, andChristmas DayOn June 28, 1870, the first federal holidays were established for federal employees in the Districtof Columbia.4 Apparently drafted in response to a memorial drafted by local “bankers andbusiness men,” the June 28 act provided that New Year’s Day, Independence Day, Christmas Day,and “any day appointed or recommended by the President of the United States as a day of publicfasting or thanksgiving [were] to be holidays within the District [of Columbia].”5 This legislation15 U.S.C. §6103.Rep. Fernando Wood, “Finance,” remarks in the House Congressional Record, vol. 2, part 3 (March 7, 1874), p.2053.323 Stat. 516, January 6, 1885. The act of January 6, 1885, specifically authorized pay for all federal employees onfederal holidays. The statute read, “That employees of the Navy Yard, Government Printing Office, Bureau of Printingand Engraving, and all other per diem employees of the Government on duty at Washington, or elsewhere in the UnitedStates, shall be allowed the following holidays, to wit: The first day of January, the twenty-second day of February, thefourth day of July, the twenty-fifth day of December, and such days as may be designated by the President as days fornational thanksgiving, and shall receive the same pay as on other days.” (emphasis added).420 Stat. 277, January 31, 1879.516 Stat. 168, June 28, 1870.2Congressional Research Service1
Federal Holidays: Evolution and Current Practiceswas drafted “to correspond with similar laws of States around the District,”6 and “in every Stateof the Union.”7Washington’s BirthdayIn January 1879, Congress added George Washington’s Birthday to the list of holidays observedin the District of Columbia. The principal intent of the law was to make February 22 “a bankholiday.”8 In summarizing the bill, Representative Burton Cook explained Congress’s intent increating a bank holiday. and for all purposes of presenting for payment or acceptance or the maturity and protectand giving notice of the dishonor of bills of exchange, bank checks, promissory notes, andother negotiable commercial paper shall be treated and considered as is the first day of theweek, commonly called Sunday; and that all notes, drafts, checks, or other commercial ornegotiable paper falling due or maturing on either of said holidays shall be deemed as havingmatured the day previously.9Enactment of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act10 in 1968 shifted the commemoration ofWashington’s Birthday from February 22 to the third Monday in February. Contrary to popularbelief, neither the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, nor any subsequent action by Congress or thePresident, mandated that the name of the holiday observed by federal employees in February bechanged from Washington’s Birthday to Presidents Day. The “Uniform Monday Holiday Act” isexamined in detail later in this report.Decoration Day/Memorial DayIn 1888, Decoration Day (now Memorial Day) became a holiday for federal workers in theDistrict of Columbia.11 Decoration Day was likely created primarily because a sizable number offederal employees were also members of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization ofUnion Civil War veterans who desired to participate in Memorial Day ceremonies honoring thosewho had died in the conflict.12 Their absence from work meant the loss of a day’s wages. SomeMembers of Congress felt that federal employees should be “allowed this day as a holiday withpay, so that they might not suffer loss of wages by reason of joining in paying their respects to thememory of those who died in the service of their country.”136Rep. Burton Cook, “Holidays in the District,” remarks in the House, Congressional Globe, vol. 42, part 5 (June 17,1870), p. 4529.7Sen. Hannibal Hamlin, “Legal Holidays in the District,” remarks in the Senate, Congressional Globe, vol. 42, part 6,(June 24, 1870), p. 4805.8Sen. Stephen Dorsey, “February Twenty-Second,” remarks in the Senate, Congressional Record, vol. 7, part 1(February 12, 1878), p. 955.9Ibid.10P.L. 90-363, 82 Stat. 250-251, June 28, 1968; 5 U.S.C. §6103.1125 Stat. 353, August 1, 1888.12Decoration Day, May 30, was widely observed in Northern states as a date for commemoration of the Civil War deadand “decoration” of their graves. For more information, see Robert J. Myers, Celebrations: The Complete Book ofAmerican Holidays (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1792), pp. 159-164.13Rep. Henry Lovering, “Pay for Decoration Day,” remarks in the House, Congressional Record, vol. 17, part 7 (July15, 1886), p. 6999. The bill debated became law, but was only applicable to per diem laborers in the government [24(continued.)Congressional Research Service2
Federal Holidays: Evolution and Current PracticesWith the passage of the “Uniform Monday Holiday Act” in 1968,14 the observance of MemorialDay was permanently changed from May 30 to the last Monday in May.Labor DayIn 1894, Labor Day became a federal holiday.15 Created to honor the country’s labor, the holidaystood in contrast to previous federal holidays designed to commemorate traditional celebrations(e.g., Christmas and New Year’s), patriotic celebrations, war, or individuals. In its report on thelegislation, the House Committee on Labor stated, “[t]he use of national holidays is to emphasizesome great event or principle in the minds of the people by giving them a day of rest andrecreation, a day of enjoyment, in commemoration of it.”16 By honoring labor with a holiday, thecommittee report suggested, the nation will assure “that the nobility of labor [will] be maintained.So long as the laboring man can feel that he holds an honorable as well as a useful place in thebody politic, so long will he be a loyal and faithful citizen.”17With time, the committee felt, the celebration of Labor Day as a national holiday on the firstMonday in September would “naturally lead to an honorable emulation among the different craftsbeneficial to them and to the whole public.” It would also “tend to increase the feeling ofcommon brotherhood among men in all crafts and callings, and at the same time kindle anhonorable desire in each craft to surpass the rest.” A reasonable amount of rest and recreationmakes a workman “more useful as a craftsman.” Providing further support for its position, thecommittee pointed out that 23 states already recognized Labor Day as a legal holiday.18Armistice Day/Veterans DayIn 1938, Armistice Day was declared a federal holiday, and November 11, the date on whichhostilities ceased, was chosen to commemorate the close of World War I. During the Housedebate preceding passage of this legislation, one Representative suggested that Armistice Daywould “not be devoted to the exaltation of glories achieved in war but, rather, to an emphasisupon those blessings which are associated with the peacetime activities of mankind.”19Making Armistice Day a “national peace holiday” was a proposal that, according to oneRepresentative, had the “enthusiastic approval” of all of the societies representing World War Iveterans.20 In 1938, Armistice Day was already a holiday in 48 states.21 Although it was(.continued)Stat. 644, February 23, 1887].14P.L. 90-363, 82 Stat. 250-251, June 28, 1968; 5 U.S.C. §6103.1528 Stat. 96, June 28, 1894.16U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Labor, Labor Day a Legal Holiday, report to accompany H.R. 28, 53rd Cong.,nd2 sess., H.Rept. 902 (Washington: GPO, 1894), p. 1.17Ibid.18Ibid.19Rep. Bertrand Gearhart, “Armistice Day,” remarks in the House, Congressional Record, vol. 83, part 6 (May 2,1938), p. 6055.20Rep. Bertrand Gearhart, “Armistice Day,” remarks in the House, Congressional Record, vol. 83, part 6 (May 2,1938), p. 6055.21Armistice Day was a statutory holiday in 44 states and was made a holiday in the other four by gubernatorial action.(continued.)Congressional Research Service3
Federal Holidays: Evolution and Current Practicesrecognized that Congress did not have the authority “to fix a national holiday within the differentStates,”22 enactment of this bill, one Senator stated, would bring the federal government “intoharmony with sentiment in the United States.”23By 1954, however, the United States had been involved in two other military engagements: WorldWar II and the Korean War. Instead of creating additional federal holidays to commemorate eachwar, Congress felt it would be better to commemorate the sacrifices of all American veterans on asingle day. On June 1, 1954, the name of Armistice Day was officially changed to Veterans Day.24This legislation did not establish a new holiday. Rather, it broadened the “significance of anexisting holiday in order that a grateful nation, on a day dedicated to the cause of world peace,may pay homage to all of its veterans.”25In 1968, with the passage of the “Law,” Veterans Day was designated as one of five holidays thatwould henceforth be celebrated on a Monday and the date was changed from November 11 to thefourth Monday in October.26 In 1975, Congress returned Veterans Day to November 11 after itbecame apparent that “veterans’ organizations opposed the change, and 46 states either neverchanged the original observation date or returned the official observance to November 11.”27 Inthe event that November 11 falls on a Saturday, the federal holiday is observed on the precedingFriday. For a holiday that falls on a Sunday, the federal holiday is observed on the followingMonday.Thanksgiving DayThe evolution of Thanksgiving Day as a federal holiday developed differently than otherholidays. On Thursday, November 26, 1789, President George Washington issued the firstproclamation calling for “a day of public thanksgiving and prayer.” Six years later, PresidentWashington called for a second day of thanksgiving on Thursday, February 19, 1795. Not until1863, however, did the nation begin to observe the occasion annually. That year, PresidentAbraham Lincoln issued a thanksgiving proclamation inviting “my fellow-citizens in every partof the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands,to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praisefor our beneficent Father who dwelleth [sic] in the heavens.”28 During the next three quarters of a(.continued)When Armistice Day was created in 1938, the United States had only 48 states.22Sen. Alben Barkley, “Armistice Day,” remarks in the Senate, Congressional Record, vol. 83, part 6 (May 5, 1938), p.6307.23Sen. William Gibbs McAdoo, “Armistice Day,” remarks in the Senate, Congressional Record, vol. 83, part 6 (May 5,1938), p. 6307.24P.L. 83-380, 68 Stat. 168, June 1, 1954.25U.S. Congress, House, Committee on the Judiciary, Changing Armistice Day to Veterans Day, report to accompanyH.R. 7786, 83rd Cong., 2nd sess., H.Rept. 1333 (Washington: GPO, 1954), p. 1.26P.L. 90-363, 82 Stat. 250, June 28, 1968; 5 U.S.C. §6103.27P.L. 94-97, 89 Stat. 479, September 18, 1975. See also “Veterans Day,” Congressional Quarterly Report, vol. 33(September 13, 1975), p. 1957.28U.S. President (Abraham Lincoln), “Proclamation 106—Thanksgiving Day, 1863,” October 3, 1865, found in JohnT. Woolley and Gerhard Peters, The American Presidency Project, Santa Barbara, CA, athttp://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid 69900.Congressional Research Service4
Federal Holidays: Evolution and Current Practicescentury, each President, by proclamation, established the exact date for the celebration each year,either on the last Thursday in November or the first Thursday in December, with one exception.29Between 1869 and 1939, the tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving on the last Thursday inNovember or the first Thursday in December was generally followed.30 That year, PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed the third Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.31 Bymoving Thanksgiving up a week, Roosevelt “hoped to aid retail business by producing a longerChristmas shopping season.”32 Although Roosevelt’s decision was greeted enthusiastically by thebusiness community, others, including a sizable portion of the public and a large number of stateofficials, protested against changing the long-standing American tradition of celebratingThanksgiving on the fourth Thursday in November. Despite this criticism, Roosevelt repeated hisaction in 1940. By May 1941, however, the Administration concluded that the experiment ofadvancing the observance date had not worked.33On December 26, 1941, President Roosevelt signed a joint resolution to settle the dispute andpermanently established Thanksgiving Day as a federal holiday to be observed on the fourthThursday in November.34 The intent of the joint resolution was to “stabilize the date so that there[would] be no confusion at any time in the future.” President Roosevelt upon signing theresolution announced “that the reasons for which the change was made do not justify a continuedchange in the date.”35Inauguration DayOn January 11, 1957, Inauguration Day became a permanent federal holiday in the Washington,DC, metropolitan area.36 Signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the law established the new29Myers, pp. 280-281.The two exceptions occurred in 1865 and 1869. In 1865, President Andrew Johnson designated the first Thursday inDecember as Thanksgiving Day. In 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant selected the third Thursday in November [Jane M.Hatch, The American Book of Days (New York: H.W. Wilson Co., 1978), p. 1056. For the text of President Johnson’sproclamation, see U.S. President (Andrew Johnson), “Proclamation 147—Thanksgiving Day, 1865,” October 28, 1865,found in John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters, The American Presidency Project, Santa Barbara, CA, athttp://www.presidency.ucsb
holidays to federal employees, see “Federal Holidays and Employee Pay” below. New Year’s Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day On June 28, 1870, the first federal holidays were established for federal employees in the District of Columbia.4 Apparently drafted in response to a memorial drafted by local “bankers and
specific colours. To do so, highlight the holidays in the list, righ-click the holidays, and choose their individual colour. ou y can highlight multiple holidays by using shift mouse click to highlight groups or by using Ctrl mouse click to highlight single holidays. holidays are added for the years 2009 - 2020. in the case of
entitlement to bereavement leave, alternative holidays, public holidays, sick leave and family violence leave o determining relevant daily pay, or average daily pay where applicable, for an employee who takes bereavement leave, alternative holidays, public holidays, sick leave and family violence leave.
Community Service Time 64. Voting 65. Jury Duty 65. Paid sick or safe time 65. Testifying in Court 66. Nonroutine Time Away 66. Military Duty 66. Relocation Time Away 66. Other Protected Time Away 67. Observed Holidays 67. Personal Holidays 68. Floating Holidays 68. Impacts to Observed Holidays 69. Working on Observed Holidays 69. Leaves of .
This Calendar was made with WinCalendar Calendar Maker More Calendars with US Holidays: 2018 Calendar with Holidays, 2019 Calendar with Holidays 2018 Holiday Calendar - US Holidays This Calen
Dec 2016 January 2017 Feb 2017 . Mar 2017 April 2017 May 2017 . This Calendar was made with WinCalendar Calendar Maker More Calendars with US Holidays: 2017 Calendar with Holidays, 2018 Calendar with Holidays US Holidays
Evolution 2250e and Evolution 3250e are equipped with a 2500 VApower supply. The Evolution 402e and Evolution 600e are equipped with a 4400 VA power supply, and the Evolution 403e and Evolution 900e house 6000 VA power supplies. Internal high-current line conditioning circuitry filters RF noise on the AC mains, as well as
Free for you—the top projects, recipes, and ideas from our 100 Days of Holidays program. 2011 100 Days of Holidays Sneak Peek Get ready to create! We’ve been prepping for the 2011 holidays to make it the most delicious, most beautiful, best-yet holiday season. Here are some of the ways we’ll be celebrating, starting on September 16.
Grade 2 Writing and Language Student At-Home Activity Packet 3 Flip to see the Grade 2 Writing and Language activities included in this packet! This At-Home Activity Packet is organized as a series of journal entries. Each entry has two parts. In part 1, the student writes in response to a prompt. In part 2, the student completes a Language Handbook lesson and practices the skill in the .
