Christmas
Is Christmas Eve 2024 a federal holiday in the US?
The festive period is now is full swing but there’s still two days of work for most workers in the United States.
Federal law (5 U.S.C. 6103) designates a select few dates across the year as federal holidays, days on which the vast majority of federal workers will get the day off. These typically apply to most non-federal workers too.
People often want time off to celebrate around the festive period but federal workers will be disappointed to learn that Christmas Eve is not a federal holiday. The only federal holiday in December is Christmas Day, December 25.
New Year’s Eve is also not a federal holiday but January 1, New Year’s Day, is. There were two federal holidays in November; Veterans Day on November 11 and Thanksgiving Day on November 28.
When are the federal holidays for 2025?
Days like Christmas and Thanksgiving are well-known federal holidays but some of them are a little less prominent. Next year Inauguration Day will be marked with a federal holiday on January 20, but only for federal employees in the Washington DC area.
Federal holidays for 2025
- Wednesday, January 1 - New Year’s Day
- Monday, January 20 - Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Monday, January 20 - Inauguration Day
- Monday, February 17 - Washington’s Birthday
- Monday, May 26 - Memorial Day
- Thursday, June 19 - Juneteenth National Independence Day
- Friday, July 4 - Independence Day
- Monday, September 1 - Labor Day
- Monday, October 13 - Columbus Day
- Tuesday, November 11 - Veterans Day
- Thursday, November 27 - Thanksgiving Day
- Thursday, December 25 - Christmas Day
When a federal holiday falls on a non-weekday - Saturday or Sunday - the holiday is observed on either the Friday or the following Monday. That is the case next year with Columbus Day, which marks the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas on October 12, 1492. In 2025 that date falls on a Sunday, so the federal holiday will be observed on Monday, October 13, one day later than normal.
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