Federal employees get eleven paid holidays in 2026, and the one wrinkle worth noting up front is Independence Day: because July 4 falls on a Saturday, the observed day off shifts to Friday, July 3. Every other 2026 federal holiday lands on a weekday and is observed on its actual date.
The 2026 Federal Holiday Calendar
- New Year’s Day: Thursday, January 1
- Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.: Monday, January 19
- Washington’s Birthday: Monday, February 16
- Memorial Day: Monday, May 25
- Juneteenth National Independence Day: Friday, June 19
- Independence Day (observed): Friday, July 3
- Labor Day: Monday, September 7
- Columbus Day: Monday, October 12
- Veterans Day: Wednesday, November 11
- Thanksgiving Day: Thursday, November 26
- Christmas Day: Friday, December 25
These are the holidays set by federal statute and published each year by the Office of Personnel Management. Juneteenth, added in 2021, is the newest.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 6103 – Holidays
Why Independence Day Moves to July 3
When a holiday falls on a weekend, the government shifts the observed day so employees on a standard Monday-through-Friday schedule don’t lose it. A Saturday holiday moves back to the preceding Friday; a Sunday holiday moves forward to the following Monday. The Saturday rule comes from statute, and the Sunday rule from Executive Order 11582.2U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Federal Holidays
July 4, 2026 is a Saturday, so Friday, July 3 is the paid day off. It’s the only 2026 holiday affected by this rule.
Who Gets Paid on a Federal Holiday
Full-time federal employees receive their basic pay rate for each holiday without reporting for work, and the day is not charged against annual or sick leave.3U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Fact Sheet: Federal Holidays – Work Schedules and Pay
Part-time employees get holiday pay only when the holiday falls on a day they are regularly scheduled to work, and only for the hours in that day’s scheduled tour. Someone regularly scheduled Monday, Wednesday, and Friday would be paid for Memorial Day but not for Thanksgiving.4U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Fact Sheet: Federal Holidays – In Lieu Of Determination
Intermittent employees have no regularly scheduled tour of duty, so they get no holiday pay.3U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Fact Sheet: Federal Holidays – Work Schedules and Pay
Compressed and Alternative Work Schedules
If you work a 4/10 or another compressed or alternative schedule, the Saturday-to-Friday and Sunday-to-Monday rules don’t map cleanly onto your week, because your days off may include a weekday. Instead, when a holiday lands on one of your scheduled non-workdays, you receive an “in lieu of” holiday.
The default rule: your “in lieu of” holiday is the workday immediately before the non-workday the holiday falls on. The exception: if the holiday falls on a Sunday that is also a non-workday, the “in lieu of” day is the workday immediately after.4U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Fact Sheet: Federal Holidays – In Lieu Of Determination
Agency heads can override the default for employees on fixed compressed schedules if the standard “in lieu of” day would cause an adverse agency impact, such as leaving a critical function unstaffed. Employees on flexible schedules can’t have their “in lieu of” day reassigned, but they can voluntarily reschedule their regular day off within the same pay period.4U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Fact Sheet: Federal Holidays – In Lieu Of Determination
What You’re Paid If You Work the Holiday
If your agency requires you to work on a holiday, you receive your basic rate plus a holiday premium equal to 100 percent of that basic rate, effectively double pay. This applies to non-overtime holiday work up to eight hours.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 5546 – Pay for Sunday and Holiday Work
Hours beyond your regular tour, or beyond eight hours on the holiday, don’t get the holiday premium. They fall into overtime pay categories with their own rates. The holiday premium covers only the hours that would have been your normal shift on an ordinary workday.6U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Fact Sheet: Premium Pay (Title 5)
Extra Days Off by Executive Order
Presidents sometimes issue executive orders closing federal agencies for an additional day around a holiday. These aren’t statutory holidays and aren’t scheduled in advance. President Trump, for example, closed agencies on both December 24 and December 26, 2025, bracketing Christmas Day, with exceptions for employees needed for national security or other essential functions.7U.S. Office of Personnel Management. CPM 2025-17: Closing of Federal Government Departments and Agencies
Because these orders come with little notice, don’t build them into your leave planning. Treat them as a bonus if they happen.
Inauguration Day Is Not a 2026 Holiday
Inauguration Day is a federal holiday only every four years, and only for employees who work in the Washington, D.C. area: the District of Columbia, Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties in Maryland, Arlington and Fairfax Counties in Virginia, and the cities of Alexandria and Falls Church.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 6103 – Holidays The next one falls on January 20, 2029, so it doesn’t affect 2026.
Banks and Mail in 2026
The Federal Reserve Board closes on all eleven federal holidays, and most banks follow suit. One 2026 quirk: because July 4 is a Saturday, Federal Reserve Banks will stay open on Friday, July 3 even though the Board of Governors is closed.8Federal Reserve Board. Holidays Observed – K.8
The U.S. Postal Service suspends regular mail delivery and closes post offices on every federal holiday, tracking the same 2026 calendar.9United States Postal Service. Holidays and Events
If You Work in the Private Sector
Federal holidays create no legal entitlement for private-sector workers. The Fair Labor Standards Act does not require your employer to give you the day off, pay you for a day you don’t work, or pay a premium if you do work. Whether you get any of that depends on your employer’s policy or your union contract. The only FLSA angle is standard weekly overtime: if working on a holiday pushes you past 40 hours for the week, the excess hours are owed at time-and-a-half, but that’s because of the weekly threshold, not the holiday.