Federal law (5 U.S.C. 6103) establishes the public holidays listed in these pages for Federal employees. There are 11 of them, and the tables below give the date each holiday is treated as a holiday for pay and leave purposes, which is not always the statutory date.
Most federal employees work a Monday to Friday schedule. If a holiday falls on a Saturday, the Friday immediately before is the legal holiday. If a holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is the legal holiday. That is why Independence Day 2026 is observed on Friday, July 3, and why calendar 2027 works out at twelve paid holidays rather than eleven.
This page is written for federal employees. It gives the observed dates for 2026 and 2027, the in lieu of rules for weekends and alternative work schedules, and how holiday pay and holiday premium pay are calculated. Every date comes from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and was checked against OPM’s own iCalendar feed and the Federal Reserve holiday schedule. Updated August 17, 2026.
The next federal holiday is filled in above when this page loads, read from the schedules below. The full 2026 and 2027 tables follow, so the dates are here whether or not scripts run.
| Date | Day | Holiday | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 1, 2026 | Thursday | New Year’s Day | — |
| January 19, 2026 | Monday | Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. | — |
| February 16, 2026 | Monday | Washington’s Birthday | — |
| May 25, 2026 | Monday | Memorial Day | — |
| June 19, 2026 | Friday | Juneteenth National Independence Day | — |
| July 3, 2026 | Friday | Independence Day | In lieu of Saturday, July 4 |
| September 7, 2026 | Monday | Labor Day | — |
| October 12, 2026 | Monday | Columbus Day | — |
| November 11, 2026 | Wednesday | Veterans Day | — |
| November 26, 2026 | Thursday | Thanksgiving Day | — |
| December 25, 2026 | Friday | Christmas Day | — |
Ten of the eleven 2026 holidays fall on a weekday and are observed on their statutory date. The exception is Independence Day: July 4, 2026 is a Saturday, so for most federal employees the holiday is observed on Friday, July 3, 2026.
| Date | Day | Holiday | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 1, 2027 | Friday | New Year’s Day | — |
| January 18, 2027 | Monday | Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. | — |
| February 15, 2027 | Monday | Washington’s Birthday | — |
| May 31, 2027 | Monday | Memorial Day | — |
| June 18, 2027 | Friday | Juneteenth National Independence Day | In lieu of Saturday, June 19 |
| July 5, 2027 | Monday | Independence Day | In lieu of Sunday, July 4 |
| September 6, 2027 | Monday | Labor Day | — |
| October 11, 2027 | Monday | Columbus Day | — |
| November 11, 2027 | Thursday | Veterans Day | — |
| November 25, 2027 | Thursday | Thanksgiving Day | — |
| December 24, 2027 | Friday | Christmas Day | In lieu of Saturday, December 25 |
Three 2027 holidays move: Juneteenth National Independence Day (June 19, 2027 is a Saturday), Independence Day (July 4, 2027 is a Sunday) and Christmas Day (December 25, 2027 is a Saturday).
There is a twelfth paid day in calendar 2027. New Year’s Day 2028 falls on Saturday, January 1, 2028, so for most federal employees it is observed on Friday, December 31, 2027. OPM carries that day as the first row of its 2028 schedule, which is why it does not appear in the 2027 table above.
A holiday that lands on a nonworkday does not simply disappear. OPM calls the replacement day an in lieu of holiday, and the rules are set by 5 U.S.C. 6103(b) and Executive Order 11582.
The general rule. The general rule is that the in lieu of holiday is the workday immediately preceding the nonworkday on which the holiday fell. For an employee on a standard Monday to Friday schedule that comes to two short sentences: If a holiday falls on a Saturday, the Friday immediately before is the legal holiday. If a holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is the legal holiday.
Who gets one. All full-time employees, including those on flexible or compressed work schedules, are entitled to an in lieu of holiday when a holiday falls on a nonworkday. Part-time and intermittent employees are not entitled to an in lieu of holiday. If an office closes for a full-time employee’s in lieu of holiday, the agency may grant administrative leave to part-time employees who were otherwise scheduled to work.
Nobody gets to pick the day. Agencies may not designate, or permit employees to choose, a different in lieu of holiday. There is one exception: for full-time employees on compressed work schedules, an agency head who determines that a different in lieu of holiday is necessary to prevent an adverse agency impact may designate one (5 U.S.C. 6103(d) and 6131(b)).
An alternative work schedule day off does not move. An employee’s AWS day off (nonworkday) does not change. The holiday has fallen on a nonworkday, so the employee is entitled to an in lieu of holiday instead, and the agency applies the rules above to work out which day that is.
Closures are not holidays. An employee is not entitled to another day off as an in lieu of holiday if a Federal office or facility is closed on a holiday because of a weather emergency or when employees are furloughed on a holiday.
Two different things are called holiday pay, and mixing them up is the most common mistake. The first is paid time off for a holiday you do not work. The second is holiday premium pay, which is what you are owed for hours you do work on a holiday.
On a holiday, full-time employees under a standard work schedule are generally excused from 8 hours of non-overtime work, which are considered part of the 40-hour basic workweek. On a flexible work schedule, full-time employees are credited with 8 hours towards their 80-hour basic work requirement for the pay period, even if they would otherwise have worked more hours that day.
Compressed schedules are the exception worth knowing. On a holiday, full-time employees under compressed work schedules are generally excused from all of the non-overtime hours they would otherwise work on that day, so a holiday that falls on a 9- or 10-hour basic workday is a 9- or 10-hour holiday (5 CFR 610.406(a)).
Part-time employees are excused for the hours they were scheduled to work that day, not to exceed 8 hours; the same 8-hour ceiling applies on a flexible work schedule (5 CFR 610.405). And there is a minimum-attendance rule that catches people either side of a long break: the minimum time in a pay status required to receive regular paid holiday time off is one hour.
Employees who are required to work on a holiday receive their rate of basic pay, plus holiday premium pay, for each hour of holiday work, which is double or 200 percent of their rate of basic pay (5 U.S.C. 5546(b), 5 CFR 550.131(a), and 5 CFR 532.507(a) for Federal Wage System employees). Employees who are required to perform any work during basic non-overtime holiday hours are entitled to a minimum of 2 hours of holiday premium pay.
The premium is not open-ended. On a standard schedule it covers work during regularly scheduled non-overtime basic tours of duty, not to exceed 8 hours. On a compressed schedule the number of hours of holiday premium pay may not exceed the hours in the employee’s compressed work schedule for that day, for example 8, 9, or 10 non-overtime hours (5 CFR 610.407). Beyond that, employees are entitled to overtime pay, or compensatory time off, when applicable, if the agency requires overtime work on a holiday, because overtime on a holiday is overtime, not premium pay.
Two smaller rules. Night pay is paid in addition to holiday premium pay, Sunday pay, or overtime pay, so a night shift on a holiday stacks. And part-time employees do not receive holiday premium pay for working on an in lieu of holiday for full-time employees, because they were never entitled to that in lieu of day.
Every one of these rules is a multiple of your rate of basic pay, so the figure that decides what a holiday is worth is your General Schedule rate. The current tables are on our GS pay scale page, and the GS pay calculator converts a grade, step and locality into an hourly rate of basic pay.
Inauguration Day is a twelfth holiday, but only for some people and only every fourth year. It is not one of the 11 holidays in 5 U.S.C. 6103(a); it sits in 5 U.S.C. 6103(c), and it applies to federal employees who would otherwise be scheduled to work on January 20 inside the Inauguration Day Area.
OPM defines that area as:
There is no in lieu of Inauguration Day holiday. If January 20th falls on a Saturday, Inauguration Day is observed on the Saturday, and only employees scheduled to work in the Inauguration Day area on that Saturday may be excused from duty with paid holiday time off. If January 20th falls on a Sunday, the observance moves to Monday, January 21st, which is the same day as the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, and no additional holiday is provided.
That matters for the next one. January 20, 2029 is a Saturday. OPM’s 2029 holiday schedule lists 11 holidays and does not list Inauguration Day at all, so it never becomes a schedule row. Pages that show a 2029 Inauguration Day holiday are wrong.
OPM’s policy is to always refer to holidays by the names designated in the law, so the headings below are the legal names. State governments, employers and calendars often use shorter or different names for the same day.
Yes. New Year’s Day is a federal holiday, observed every January 1. In 2026 it falls on Thursday, January 1, 2026. In 2027 it falls on Friday, January 1, 2027.
Yes. The Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. is a federal holiday, observed the third Monday in January. In 2026 it falls on Monday, January 19, 2026. In 2027 it falls on Monday, January 18, 2027.
Yes. Washington’s Birthday (also known as Presidents Day) is a federal holiday, observed the third Monday in February. In 2026 it falls on Monday, February 16, 2026. In 2027 it falls on Monday, February 15, 2027.
Yes. Memorial Day is a federal holiday, observed the last Monday in May. In 2026 it falls on Monday, May 25, 2026. In 2027 it falls on Monday, May 31, 2027.
Yes. Juneteenth National Independence Day is a federal holiday, observed every June 19. In 2026 it falls on Friday, June 19, 2026. In 2027 it falls on Friday, June 18, 2027, because the statutory date, June 19, 2027, is a Saturday.
Yes. Independence Day is a federal holiday, observed every July 4. In 2026 it falls on Friday, July 3, 2026, because the statutory date, July 4, 2026, is a Saturday. In 2027 it falls on Monday, July 5, 2027, because the statutory date, July 4, 2027, is a Sunday.
Yes. Labor Day is a federal holiday, observed the first Monday in September. In 2026 it falls on Monday, September 7, 2026. In 2027 it falls on Monday, September 6, 2027.
Yes. Columbus Day is a federal holiday, observed the second Monday in October. In 2026 it falls on Monday, October 12, 2026. In 2027 it falls on Monday, October 11, 2027.
Yes. Veterans Day is a federal holiday, observed every November 11. In 2026 it falls on Wednesday, November 11, 2026. In 2027 it falls on Thursday, November 11, 2027.
Yes. Thanksgiving Day is a federal holiday, observed the fourth Thursday in November. In 2026 it falls on Thursday, November 26, 2026. In 2027 it falls on Thursday, November 25, 2027.
Yes. Christmas Day is a federal holiday, observed every December 25. In 2026 it falls on Friday, December 25, 2026. In 2027 it falls on Friday, December 24, 2027, because the statutory date, December 25, 2027, is a Saturday.
There are 11 federal holidays each year, set by 5 U.S.C. 6103. In 2026 all 11 are observed inside the calendar year. In 2027 the 11 are joined by a twelfth observed day: New Year’s Day 2028 falls on Saturday, January 1, 2028, so most federal employees take it on Friday, December 31, 2027.
No. The day after Thanksgiving is not one of the 11 holidays listed in 5 U.S.C. 6103, so it is a normal workday unless something else makes it otherwise. OPM’s designated holidays include official Federal holidays, in lieu of holidays, Presidential Inauguration Day where applicable, and Federal holidays declared by Executive order, and presidents have at times used that last category to grant additional time off.
For holiday hours, yes. Employees who are required to work on a holiday receive their rate of basic pay plus holiday premium pay, which comes to double, or 200 percent, of the rate of basic pay. Anyone required to work at all during basic non-overtime holiday hours is entitled to a minimum of 2 hours of holiday premium pay. Overtime hours on a holiday are paid as overtime instead, not as holiday premium pay.
You get an in lieu of holiday instead, provided you are a full-time employee. Your alternative work schedule day off does not move. The agency applies the standard rules to decide which workday becomes the holiday, and it may not let you choose the day yourself. Part-time and intermittent employees are not entitled to an in lieu of holiday.
No. This holiday is designated as Washington’s Birthday in section 6103(a) of title 5 of the United States Code, which is the law that specifies holidays for Federal employees. OPM notes that other institutions such as state and local governments and private businesses may use other names, but its policy is to always refer to holidays by the names designated in the law.
Every date on this page was taken from OPM and then checked twice more before publication. The statutory rule for each holiday was applied in code, the weekend rule applied to the result, and the answer compared with OPM’s published table and with the DTSTART value in OPM’s own iCalendar feed. All 33 rows across 2026, 2027 and 2028 agreed. The dates were then re-derived from the Federal Reserve’s holiday schedule by separate code, which agreed on all 33 as well.
Updated August 17, 2026. This page is maintained in place: the tables are refreshed as each new OPM schedule is published, and the url never changes.