Federal holidays 2027: dates, observed days and what closes

The federal holidays 2027 calendar has an unusual shape: three of the 11 holidays fall on a Saturday or Sunday, and New Year's Day 2028 falls on a Saturday too, which hands federal employees an extra day off on December 31, 2027. That matters beyond the federal workforce. Banks, the stock market, the Postal Service and most private employers each handle weekend holidays differently, so the day your office closes, the day your payroll settles and the day the mail stops may be three different days. Every date below is taken from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) holiday schedule, with bank, market and postal dates from the Federal Reserve, the New York Stock Exchange and the U.S. Postal Service.

Federal holidays 2027: the full list

These are the 11 holidays in 5 U.S.C. 6103(a), in calendar order. "Observed" is the day most federal employees get off, as published by OPM. Where the holiday falls on a weekday, the two dates are the same.

Two naming notes. Federal law calls the February holiday "Washington's Birthday"; most states and employers call it Presidents' Day. And Columbus Day is observed as Indigenous Peoples' Day in a growing number of states and cities, which does not change the federal date.

There is no Inauguration Day in 2027. It falls every fourth year on January 20 (next: January 20, 2029) and is a holiday only for federal employees in the Washington, DC area.

Three 2027 holidays fall on a weekend

When a federal holiday lands on a Saturday, 5 U.S.C. 6103(b) makes the preceding Friday the legal holiday for most federal employees. When it lands on a Sunday, Executive Order 11582 moves it to the following Monday. OPM's "in lieu of" rules apply those two principles to everyone on a standard Monday-to-Friday schedule. In 2027 that produces four observed days that differ from the calendar date:

• Juneteenth, Saturday, June 19, is observed Friday, June 18.
• Independence Day, Sunday, July 4, is observed Monday, July 5.
• Christmas Day, Saturday, December 25, is observed Friday, December 24.
• New Year's Day 2028, Saturday, January 1, 2028, is observed Friday, December 31, 2027. OPM lists it at the top of its 2028 schedule, so from a federal employee's point of view 2027 has 12 paid holidays and 2028 only 10 on the calendar.

Federal employees who work a schedule other than Monday to Friday follow a slightly different rule: if the holiday falls on their regular day off, the workday immediately before it is the holiday (or, for a Sunday, the next workday). OPM's fact sheet on "in lieu of" holidays has the full table.

Private employers are free to do the same, do something else or do nothing. Many that close on Christmas simply close on Friday, December 24 and Monday, July 5 as well. Others, especially restaurants and retail stores, stay open on every one of these dates and decide instead whether to pay a premium. Whatever you do, decide it now and write it down, because the choice affects pay, scheduling and PTO requests for the whole year.

Federal holidays 2026: what is left this year

Two federal holidays 2026 dates remain after today, November 12: Thanksgiving and Christmas. The full year is here for anyone reconciling payroll or PTO balances. In 2026 only Independence Day fell on a weekend.

The Friday after Thanksgiving (November 27, 2026) and Christmas Eve (Thursday, December 24, 2026) are not federal holidays, though many employers give one or both. The stock market closes early at 1:00 p.m. Eastern on both days.

Federal holidays 2028 preview

OPM has already published 2028, which helps if you set holiday policy on a two-year cycle or hire for January. Two holidays move: New Year's Day (observed Friday, December 31, 2027, as noted above) and Veterans Day, which falls on Saturday, November 11, 2028 and is observed Friday, November 10. Independence Day lands on a Tuesday, Juneteenth and Christmas on Mondays.

Who gets federal holidays off

Federal holidays are, strictly, days off for federal employees. Under OPM's rules, a full-time federal employee who is not required to work on a holiday is paid for the day, and one who is required to work receives holiday premium pay equal to their basic pay, which works out to double pay for holiday hours. Many state and local governments, public schools and banks line up with the federal list, which is why the country feels closed on these days.

For private employers the list has no legal force. The U.S. Department of Labor states that the Fair Labor Standards Act "does not require payment for time not worked, such as vacations or holidays," and that these benefits "are generally a matter of agreement between an employer and an employee." The FLSA also does not require time and a half, double time or any premium for working on a holiday. A holiday shift is paid at the regular rate, and overtime is owed only when hours actually worked pass 40 in the workweek. Our guide to holiday pay rules covers the math, including how paid holiday hours interact with overtime.

Three groups of private-sector workers do have holiday rights, from sources other than the FLSA:

• Union employees, whose collective bargaining agreement usually lists paid holidays and a premium for working them.
• Employees with a contract or offer letter that promises specific paid holidays. Once promised, the promise is enforceable under state wage law.
• Retail and some other workers in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training requires premium pay for work on Sundays and state legal holidays for most covered employers. Massachusetts ended retail holiday premium pay on January 1, 2023, but its blue laws still make work on certain holidays voluntary for retail employees. Check the state labor department if you have staff there.

Salaried exempt employees get one more protection: if the business closes for a holiday, the employer cannot dock their salary for that day, because the salary basis rule in 29 CFR 541.602 requires full pay for any week in which they perform work.

Bank and stock market holidays 2027

Bank holidays 2027 and federal holidays are not the same list, and the stock market uses a third one. The Federal Reserve observes the 11 federal holidays, but it does not move a Saturday holiday to Friday: Reserve Banks are open on the Friday before a Saturday holiday, and closed only on the Monday after a Sunday holiday. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) closes for Good Friday, moves Saturday holidays to Friday, and stays open on Columbus Day and Veterans Day.

Sources: Federal Reserve Board K.8 holiday schedule and the NYSE holidays and trading hours page. Individual banks set their own branch hours and most follow the Federal Reserve list, so confirm with your bank before you count on a Friday.

Why this matters for payroll. Direct deposit runs through the ACH network, which settles only on Federal Reserve business days. In 2027 that gives you three days where federal offices are closed but payroll settles normally: Friday, June 18, Friday, December 24 and Friday, December 31. It also gives you one day where everything is closed, Monday, July 5. If your pay date is Monday, July 5, 2027, employees paid by direct deposit will not see funds until Tuesday, July 6 unless you submit the file a day earlier and pay on Friday, July 2. Our payroll processing guide explains the lead times, and Workzenly payroll flags pay dates that land on a bank holiday when you set up the calendar.

Mail delivery on federal holidays

The U.S. Postal Service closes Post Offices and suspends regular mail delivery on all 11 federal holidays, but it observes them on the actual date, not the federal "in lieu of" date. USPS lists its 2027 holidays as Juneteenth on Saturday, June 19 and Christmas on Saturday, December 25, and states that "Post Offices will be open on Friday, June 18, and Friday, Dec. 24, and deliveries will occur as normal." Independence Day is observed Monday, July 5, so there is no mail that Monday.

In practice, for the 2027 Saturday holidays you lose Saturday delivery only, which most businesses barely notice. For the weekday holidays, including Monday, July 5, Monday, October 11 (Columbus Day) and Thursday, November 11 (Veterans Day), there is no regular delivery and no pickup. Build that into any paper paycheck schedule: a check mailed on Friday, October 8 will not move until Tuesday, October 12. Private carriers such as UPS and FedEx publish their own holiday lists, which are shorter than the federal list, so check them separately.

State holidays in 2027

Each state sets its own list of legal holidays for state offices, courts and schools. Most states adopt the federal 11, then add or drop a few. The additions matter if you have staff in those states, because employees often expect the local day off and public offices you depend on will be closed. A few examples, verified for 2027:

• Texas (Texas Comptroller FY 2027 schedule): state offices close the day after Thanksgiving (Friday, November 27, 2026), Christmas Eve (Thursday, December 24, 2026) and Christmas Day, and run skeleton crews on Confederate Heroes Day (January 19, 2027), Texas Independence Day (Tuesday, March 2), San Jacinto Day (Wednesday, April 21) and LBJ Day (Friday, August 27). Good Friday is an optional holiday. Texas does not move weekend holidays, so state offices do not close on Friday, June 18 or Monday, July 5, 2027.
• Massachusetts (Secretary of the Commonwealth): Patriots' Day, Monday, April 19, 2027, closes state, county and municipal offices. The Massachusetts Trial Court notes that because Juneteenth and Christmas fall on Saturdays in 2027, courts do not close for them on another day.
• Illinois (Illinois State Treasurer holiday calendar) adds Lincoln's Birthday, February 12, which is a Friday in 2027, and the day after Thanksgiving. Illinois and several other states also close for General Election Day, but only in even-numbered years, so it does not apply in 2027.

Columbus Day is the holiday most often renamed or dropped at the state level. If you operate in more than one state, pick one company list, name it in the handbook and treat state-only days as floating holidays rather than trying to match every local calendar.

How to plan your 2027 holiday schedule

A holiday schedule 2027 for a private employer is a policy, not a legal filing, so the goal is to be clear and consistent. Start from the federal holidays 2027 list above, then decide what your business adds, drops and pays. Here is the sequence that avoids the December scramble.

1. Pick your paid holidays. Six is a common floor for small businesses (New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas). Offices often add Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents' Day, Juneteenth, the Friday after Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. Count them against your budget: each paid holiday for a full-time employee at $18.00 an hour costs $144.00 in wages for the day.
2. Decide the observed days now. For 2027 you have to say what happens on Friday, June 18, Monday, July 5, Friday, December 24 and Friday, December 31. The simplest rule mirrors OPM: Saturday holidays move to Friday, Sunday holidays to Monday. Write the actual 2027 dates into the policy so nobody has to interpret the rule.
3. Add floating holidays. One or two floating days let staff observe religious holidays, state holidays or a birthday without a company-wide closure. Track them as a separate PTO bucket with its own balance and a use-by date (floating holidays usually do not carry over, but check your state's rules on earned time before you write "use it or lose it").
4. Set the pay rule for working a holiday. If you stay open, say whether a holiday shift pays the regular rate, time and a half or double time, and whether the employee also gets a paid day off later. Whatever rate you pick, remember the FLSA still requires overtime on hours worked over 40 in the week, calculated on the regular rate. Our overtime calculator shows how a holiday premium changes the overtime rate.
5. Set eligibility and the "day before, day after" rule. State who qualifies (for example full-time employees after 30 days), how part-time holiday pay is prorated, and whether an unexcused absence on the shift before or after a holiday forfeits holiday pay. That rule is legal under federal law but must be applied evenly; see our attendance policy templates for wording.
6. Post the list before the year starts. Put the 2027 dates in the handbook, on the schedule and in the employee app by early December. Employees who know the Christmas week plan in December submit fewer last-minute requests in July.
7. Lock the holiday-week schedules early. For holidays you stay open, publish the schedule two to three weeks out, open the shifts for volunteers first, then assign. Shift scheduling with swap requests keeps the trades visible to the manager.

An illustrative example, using a coffee shop that stays open on most holidays. Northfield Coffee in Austin, TX closes on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, pays those two as paid holidays to full-time staff, and pays time and a half for hours worked on six other holidays, including the observed Monday, July 5, 2027. Maya Torres, front counter at $17.50 an hour, works an 8-hour shift that Monday: 8 × $17.50 × 1.5 = $210.00 instead of $140.00, a $70.00 premium that comes from company policy, not the FLSA. If she also crosses 40 hours that week, her overtime rate is calculated on her regular rate including that premium, which is why the holiday policy and the payroll setup need to agree.

Copyable 2027 holiday schedule

Copy the schedule below into your handbook or post it on the break room board and in the employee app. Replace the items in brackets, delete the holidays you do not offer, and keep the observed dates so there is no argument in June or December. The dates are the federal observed dates for 2027; the pay and eligibility terms are examples to edit, not legal requirements. Our employee handbook templates have a matching PTO section.

For the government side of the same calendar, OPM publishes the federal schedule several years ahead and offers an iCalendar download, which is handy for anyone who works with federal agencies or courts.

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