Guides

Short, sourced answers to the questions people ask about US holidays at work.

• What happens when a federal holiday falls on a weekendThe Saturday-to-Friday and Sunday-to-Monday rule, why December 31 is sometimes a holiday, and how banks, markets and employers apply it differently.
• Do private employers have to give federal holidays off?No federal law requires private employers to give holidays, paid or unpaid. What is common, what states require, and what to check in your handbook.
• Holiday pay in the US, explainedIs holiday pay time and a half? What the law requires, how federal employees are paid for working holidays, and how overtime interacts with holiday hours.
• Federal holidays vs. state holidaysWhy your state may close on days that are not federal holidays, with examples such as Patriots' Day, Cesar Chavez Day and Pioneer Day.
• Bank holidays 2026–2028: when banks are closedFederal Reserve bank holidays for 2026, 2027 and 2028, why banks open on the Friday before a Saturday holiday, and what happens to deposits and transfers.
• Stock market holidays 2026–2028 (NYSE and Nasdaq)Days the NYSE and Nasdaq are closed in 2026, 2027 and 2028, including Good Friday, plus the usual early-close days.
• How to get the most days off from your PTO in 2027The best bridge days in 2027: where 1, 2, 3 or 4 PTO days turn federal holidays into long breaks, and a 10-day plan that gives a month off.