Official public holidays in the US are created by legislation: Congress passes a bill adding the date to Title 5 of the U.S. Code, Section 6103, and the President signs it into law. States create their own holidays the same way, through a bill passed by the state legislature and signed by the governor. There is no other route. A presidential proclamation, a popular tradition, or a widely observed cultural date does not become an official holiday until a legislature writes it into law.
How Congress Creates a Federal Holiday
A federal holiday starts as a bill introduced in Congress. It has to pass both the House and the Senate and then get the President’s signature. Once signed, the new holiday is added to the list in 5 U.S.C. 6103, the single statute that governs federal holidays.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 6103 – Holidays
What that designation actually does is narrower than most people assume. A federal holiday closes federal offices and gives federal employees a paid day off. It does not require state governments or private employers to do anything. Most states and many private employers observe the major federal holidays by custom, but the legal obligation runs only to the federal workforce.2U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Federal Holidays
The most recent addition shows the process in action. Juneteenth National Independence Day became a federal holiday on June 17, 2021, when President Biden signed Public Law 117-17. The Senate had passed it on June 15 and the House on June 16.3govinfo.gov. Public Law 117-17 – Juneteenth National Independence Day Act
The Current Federal Holidays
Eleven permanent federal holidays are listed in 5 U.S.C. 6103(a):1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 6103 – Holidays
- New Year’s Day — January 1
- Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. — third Monday in January
- Washington’s Birthday — third Monday in February
- Memorial Day — last Monday in May
- Juneteenth National Independence Day — June 19
- Independence Day — July 4
- Labor Day — first Monday in September
- Columbus Day — second Monday in October
- Veterans Day — November 11
- Thanksgiving Day — fourth Thursday in November
- Christmas Day — December 25
Inauguration Day, January 20 every four years, is also a federal holiday, but only for federal employees working in the Washington, D.C. area.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 6103 – Holidays
How States and Localities Create Their Own Holidays
Every state runs its own process for creating public holidays, and it mirrors the federal one. A bill passes both chambers of the state legislature and the governor signs it. State holidays typically mark events or figures that matter to that state’s history. Patriots’ Day, the third Monday in April, is a legal holiday in Massachusetts commemorating the battles of Lexington and Concord. Louisiana recognizes Mardi Gras as an official holiday. Neither is federal.
Cities and counties can go further and designate their own holidays by ordinance or resolution. A local holiday might close city hall and give municipal employees the day off, but it carries no weight outside that jurisdiction.
States decide independently which federal holidays to observe and which of their own to add, so the official holiday calendar looks different from one state to the next.
National Observances That Are Not Holidays
Congress also uses a separate part of federal law, Title 36 of the U.S. Code, to create national observances. Flag Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Constitution Day, and Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day all live there, along with dozens of others including American Heart Month, National Poison Prevention Week, Patriot Day, and Gold Star Mother’s Day.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 36 USC Ch. 1 – Patriotic and National Observances
Congress creates these observances by the same legislative process as federal holidays, but they land in a different part of the code and do something different. A Title 36 observance instructs the President to issue an annual proclamation and often asks government officials to display the flag or encourage public ceremonies. It does not close federal offices or give anyone a paid day off. Flag Day on June 14 is the clearest example: it is permanently recognized in federal law, and federal offices stay open.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 36 USC Ch. 1 – Patriotic and National Observances
Presidential Proclamations
Presidents also designate commemorative days, weeks, and months through proclamations, and these are official executive statements published in the Federal Register.5Federal Register. Proclamations – Federal Register Some carry out standing instructions from Congress, such as the annual proclamations that Title 36 observances direct the President to issue.6Library of Congress. A Cause for Celebration: Federal Holidays and Observances Part 1 Others are one-time recognitions passed by Congress as joint resolutions for a single year; those enter the Statutes at Large but not the permanent U.S. Code.
Proclamations lend recognition. They do not create holidays. Only an act of Congress amending 5 U.S.C. 6103 can produce a federal holiday with paid time off for federal workers.
Religious and Cultural Days No Government Created
Many of the days people call holidays were never created by legislation at all. Christmas, Diwali, Eid al-Fitr, Passover, Lunar New Year, and Kwanzaa come from religious traditions, cultural heritage, or historical memory. Their meaning comes from community practice, and some are older than any current government.
Legislatures sometimes fold these observances into official calendars. Christmas has been a federal holiday since 1870, but the government did not create Christmas; it recognized something already there. Kwanzaa runs the other direction: it was created in 1966 with a specific date and a set of principles, and it spread through community adoption without any federal or state law designating it as a holiday.
What a Holiday Requires of Employers
The most common misconception about official holidays is that they force private employers to pay for the day. They do not. Federal law does not require private employers to give paid time off on holidays, and it does not require premium pay for employees who work on a holiday. The Department of Labor states that the Fair Labor Standards Act “does not require payment for time not worked, such as vacations or holidays (federal or otherwise).”7U.S. Department of Labor. Holiday Pay
Paid holidays, holiday pay, and premium rates come from employment contracts, company policies, or collective bargaining agreements. A few states have their own rules for certain workers, but there is no general federal requirement. Time-and-a-half on Thanksgiving is a company policy, not the law.
One area where federal law does intervene is religious observance. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for employees whose sincerely held religious beliefs conflict with work schedules, which can include time off for religious holidays. An employer can decline only if the accommodation would impose a substantial burden on the business, and coworker complaints or customer discomfort do not qualify as a substantial burden.8U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Fact Sheet: Religious Accommodations in the Workplace The employee does not need to make the request in writing or use any particular phrasing; once the employer knows an accommodation is needed for religious reasons, the obligation to engage begins.