United States Federal Holidays in 2010
Official Government Holidays, Probable Post Office Closings
Dec 27, 2008
As discussed in the article United States Federal Holidays in 2009, Congress mandates federal government holidays in Title 5 (Section 6103) of the United State Code. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) website announces when government employees get off work. Government employees will have ten federal holidays in 2010.
Federal Holidays in 2010: When Government Employees Get Off Work
Per the United States Code, these will be the official government holidays for 2010:
- New Year’s Day – Friday, January 1st
- Birthday of Martin Luther King – Monday, January 18th
- George Washington’s Birthday (commonly known as President’s Day) – Monday, February 15th
- Memorial Day – Monday, May 31st
- Independence Day – Monday, July 5th
- Labor Day – Monday, September 6th
- Columbus Day – Monday, October 11th
- Veterans Day – Thursday, November 11th
- Thanksgiving Day – Thursday, November 25th
- Christmas Day – Friday, December 24th
Note that all of the federal employee holidays above fall on weekdays. For any holiday that falls on a weekend, the U.S. government allows most federal employees to get off work either the Friday before or the Monday following the actual holiday.
According to the OPM website, “… most Federal employees work on a Monday through Friday schedule. For these employees, when a holiday falls on a nonworkday…the holiday usually is observed on Monday (if the holiday falls on Sunday) or Friday (if the holiday falls on Saturday).” This is the reason that Independence Day is observed on July 5th (instead of July 4th) and why Christmas is observed on December 24th (instead of December 25th).
Commonly Mistaken Federal Holidays: Day after Thanksgiving, Day after Christmas, & Others
Although many private organizations in the U.S. allow employees to take off the day after Thanksgiving and the day after Christmas, those are not official federal holidays. The same goes for Good Friday, the day after Easter, Flag Day, and Election Day.
2010 Postal Holidays: Will the Post Office Be Open? Will the Mail Run?
The first question that crosses many people’s minds on their day off is whether or not the mail will run. The United States Postal Service (USPS) is not a true federal organization, so the days it observes may not coincide with the list above. Only a local postmaster or postal employee will be say for sure if the post office is closed on a particular day; however, a safe guess is that the post office will be closed on any holiday above that actually falls on a weekday. This would include New Year’s, MLK’s Birthday, President’s Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veteran’s Day, and Thanksgiving Day. The Fourth of July and Christmas Day are toss-ups.
Related articles:
44 Cent First Class Stamps – New Postal Rate Information
Official 2009 U.S. Federal Government Holidays
Resources:
U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Cornell University Law School U.S. Code Collection
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