No matter what you do for a living, there’s one thing every worker can rally behind – being paid to not work is pretty awesome.
While the US is the only major economy that doesn’t require workers to take paid vacation days, we do have many federal holidays which the vast majority of companies honor by giving their employees the day off.
To help you prepare for the year ahead, we round up the full list of federal holidays and also offer some savvy paid time off (PTO) hacks you can use to maximize the amount of time you’ll be spending away from your desk in 2025.
Do Companies Need to Give Workers Time Off For Federal Holidays?
In short, no. There’s no legal requirement for US employers to give their workforce time off for federal holidays.
However, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, around 77% of US companies provide paid time off for federal holidays, with most workers receiving an average of eight paid holidays each year. If a federal holiday falls on a nonwork day, workers are often entitled to an “in lieu of” holiday, which will typically fall on the day before or after the holiday.
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There is an exception to this rule, though. The government is required to provide paid time off for federal holidays, resulting in federal employees receiving an average of 11 extra days off a year. If you’re unsure whether your company will honor these holidays we recommend enquiring with a manager or referring to a copy of your employee handbook.
A List of Federal Holidays in 2024
There are 11 federal holidays in total that can get you a day off work. However, some of these holidays are more widely recognized than others. Also, they don’t always fall on the same day, making planning for the year ahead a bit tricky if you don’t have the dates to hand.
To help you out here’s a full list of the US’s federal holidays in 2025 – alongside their date:
- New Year’s Day – Monday, January 1st
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day – Monday, January 15th
- Presidents’ Day – Monday, February 17th
- Memorial Day – Monday, May 26th
- Juneteenth National Independence Day – Thursday, June 19th
- Independence Day – Friday, July 4th
- Labor Day – Monday, September 1st
- Indigenous Peoples’ Day/Columbus Day – Monday, October 13th
- Veterans Day – Tuesday, November 11th
- Thanksgiving – Thursday, November 27th
- Christmas – Thursday, December 25th
Most of these occasions are universally recognized across states. However, the US’s newest federal holiday – Juneteenth – is currently only fully accepted by the District of Columbia, and the following 28 states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Maximize Your Days Off By Using These Smart PTO Hacks
US companies are famously stingy when it comes to time off – especially compared to their European counterparts. This can make planning a vacation difficult, especially if you’re looking to unplug for a significant amount of time. However, by tactically choosing which days you book off, you’re able to turn 11 PTO days into 44 days of vacation. We show you how this can be done, month-by-month next:
January
New Year’s Day falls on a Wednesday this year. So, by taking off Monday the 30th of December, and Tuesday the 31st of December, you’re able to transform your weekend off into a five-day long break.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day takes place later on in the month on Monday, January 20. So, if you take off Tuesday the 21st of January, you’re able to extend these days off into a four-day break.
May
Memorial Day will be the next federal holiday, taking place on Monday the 26th of May. If you want to unwind properly over Memorial weekend, we’d recommend securing a four-day weekend by taking the Friday the 23rd of May as well.
June
Juneteenth – a holiday celebrated to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people in the US – takes place on the 19th of the month. Unusually for federal holidays, this falls on a Thursday, making it a great contender for a four-day weekend. All you have to do is take a workday off on Friday the 20th of June.
July
Independence Day lands on a Friday in 2025. If you want to extend your break, you can take off Thursday the 3rd of July off too, and celebrate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence with four uninterrupted days off work.
September
Next up, we have Labor Day. The federal holiday falls on Monday, September 1. You probably get the drill by now, but it’s easy to bump up this break to a long weekend by booking a day off on Friday the 29th of August, or Tuesday the 2nd of September.
October
Indigenous People’s Day takes place on Monday the 13th of the month. If you want to snag a four-day break before the holiday season kicks in, we recommend booking an extra day off on Friday the 10th of October.
November
With the year drawing to a close, November is an ideal month to make the most of federal holidays. By taking Monday the 1oth of November off – the day before Veteran’s Day, you’ll be able to extend your time off into a 4-day weekend. The same can be done for Thanksgiving, which takes place on Thursday the 28th of November. If you don’t like the idea of working during a food coma, book off Friday the 28th, and enjoy an extended weekend over the festive period.
December
Christmas takes place on a Thursday in 2025, making it a perfect time for a much-needed long break. Just book off the day after Christmas (Friday the 26th of December) for a four-day break, and Christmas Eve (Wednesday the 24th of December) and Monday the 29th of December, for a luxurious six-day break.
There you have it, with a little bit of planning, it’s possible to escape from the grind for longer than one or two days at a time – even with a stringent annual leave policy. However, we advise booking these days off as soon as possible, before your colleagues get the same idea.
Alternatively, if you’ve had enough of meticulously planning days off, we also recommend considering companies with better annual leave policies – including these employers that currently offer their workforce unlimited PTO for vacations.
