I have noted in a previous blog entry that fewer days of vacation are offered in the US than in the UK. However, there are more federal holidays than the equivalent bank holidays. There are ten days per year, compared to eight in the UK. This year there was an eleventh day; a day of mourning for President Gerald Ford. From 2009, there will be a federal holiday for the presidential inauguration; an event that occurs every four years.
Unfortunately, while government offices, banks, and post offices observe these holidays. Many companies in the private sector only close for some of these days. My new employer marks just six of them, although we do get an extra day on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
Tomorrow, Monday 15, is Martin Luther King Day; a holiday that I will spend in the office as will be the case with February 19; which is President’s Day. My first day of holiday will not arrive until Memorial Day on May 28.
