Even though the economic climate remains tenuous, most employers will continue to offer the same number of paid holidays to employees in 2011 as in past years, says a new Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) survey.
An overwhelming majority of employers plan to close their doors on these holidays in 2011:
Thanksgiving Day (97%)
New Year’s Day (96%)
Independence Day (96%)
Labor Day (95%)
Memorial Day (95%)
Christmas Day (94%)
Of those, New Year’s Day and Christmas Day fall on the weekend during 2011.
Other holiday findings for 2011, according to SHRM:
- Jan. 3, Monday after New Year’s Day—19% will close offices.
- Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday, Jan. 17—38% will close; none will close early.
- Presidents Day, Feb. 21—34% will close; none will close early.
- Good Friday, April 22—26% will close; 6% will close early.
- Easter Monday, April 25—6% to close; 1%to close early.
- Yom Kippur, Oct. 8—7% will close offices.
- Columbus Day, Oct. 10—16% will close; none will close early.
- Veterans Day, Nov. 11—21% will close.
- Day before Thanksgiving, Nov. 23—8% will close; 17% will close early.
- Day after Thanksgiving, Nov. 25—69% will close; 2% will close early.
- Day before Christmas Eve, Dec. 23—33% plan to close offices in 2011, 15% will close early. This is a Friday.
- Christmas Eve, Dec. 24—78% will close offices; 10% will close early. This is a Saturday.
- Monday after Christmas, Dec. 26—64% will close; 1% will close early.
- Day before New Year’s Eve, Dec. 30—25% will close; 10% will close early. This is a Friday.
- New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31—71% will close offices on this Saturday, and 9% will close early.
In 2010, most federal employees will receive Dec. 31 as a paid holiday because New Year’s Day—a legal public holiday—falls on a Saturday in 2011. Additionally, most federal employees will have Dec. 26, 2011 as paid time off because Christmas—another legal public holiday—falls on a Sunday.
Just 12% indicated that their offices will be closed during the week between Christmas 2011 and New Year’s Day 2012.
