This issuance provides the list of all legal public holidays for calendar year 2026. This issuance also contains additional information on full-time and part-time employee schedules, and holiday premium pay for employees who are required to work during a legal public holiday.

Full-Time Schedules with a Monday through Friday workweek

For calendar year 2026, for pay and leave purposes, the legal public holidays for full-time District government employees with basic workweeks of Monday through Friday will be observed as follows:

Specific rules govern which workday will be observed as a legal public holiday for employees with part time schedules and employees whose basic workweek does not occur between Monday through Friday. Student employees paid by stipend are not entitled to holidays. 

Part-Time Employees

For part-time employees, whenever a public holiday falls on a workday within the employee’s scheduled tour of duty, the part-time employee will be entitled to holiday pay. When a public holiday falls on a non-workday for a part-time employee, the part-time employee is not entitled to holiday pay, and no “in-lieu-of” holiday or alternative day off is authorized for that part-time employee.

Full-Time Employees with Non-Standard Workweeks

For full-time employees with schedules other than Monday through Friday, including compressed work schedules, when a holiday falls on a regularly scheduled day off, the legal public holiday for that employee depends on their scheduled tour of duty. The resulting legal public holiday is often called an “in-lieu-of” holiday. For these employees, when a holiday falls on the:

• First (or only) non-workday of the administrative workweek - the “in-lieu-of” holiday for the employee is the day immediately before the legal public holiday; and
• Second (or subsequent) non-workday of the administrative workweek - the “in-lieu-of” holiday for the employee is the first scheduled workday following the legal public holiday.

The following section, “’In-Lieu-Of’ Schedules for Non-Standard Workweeks,” provides specific guidance on how to determine an “in-lieu-of” holiday.

“In-Lieu-Of” Schedules for Non-Standard Workweeks

Please refer to the tables below for guidance on determining the legal public holiday for employees who work non-standard schedules.

Monday Holidays

• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday: January 19, 2026
• Washington’s Birthday: February 16, 2026
• Memorial Day: May 25, 2026
• Labor Day: September 7, 2026
• Indigenous Peoples’ Day:  October 12, 2026

Wednesday Holidays

• Veteran's Day: November 11, 2026

Thursday Holidays

• New Year's Day: January 1, 2026
• D.C. Emancipation Day: April 16, 2026
• Thanksgiving Day: November 26, 2026

Friday Holidays

• Juneteenth National Independence Day: June 19, 2026
• Independence Day (observed): July 3, 2026
• Christmas Day: December 25, 2026

Some District government agencies must operate on legal public holidays. For this reason, agencies may schedule employees to work on holidays. However, an employee scheduled to work on a holiday may take annual leave, sick leave, or leave without pay when such leave is approved by the agency according to agency leave procedures. If the employee’s leave request is not approved, then they are required to report to work on the holiday.

An employee who performs actual work on a holiday or on a day established as an in-lieu-of holiday will be paid holiday premium pay for that day. Holiday premium pay will only be paid for work actually performed. An employee who performs holiday work is entitled to a minimum of two hours of holiday premium pay. For further guidance on holiday premium pay, please refer to Premium Pay – Holiday Premium Pay, E- District Personnel Manual (DPM) Issuance No. 11B-73 (Feb. 25, 2010).

Employees Who Are Not Eligible to Receive Holiday Premium Pay

Subject to individual agency policies, employees who are required to work on a holiday but use approved leave will not receive holiday premium pay nor an “in-lieu-of” holiday. Employees who are paid at Grade 15 or above shall not be entitled to holiday premium pay.

In the event of a conflict between any of the provisions of this E-DPM issuance and any collective bargaining agreement (CBA), the provisions of the CBA will control to the extent that there is a difference.

1. Legal public holidays, D.C. Official Code § 1-612.02.
2. Premium Pay – Holiday Premium Pay, E-DPM Issuance No. 11B-73 (Feb. 25, 2010).
3. Legal Public Holidays, E-DPM § 1220.
4. Entitlement to Holidays, E-DPM § 1221.
5. Determining Holidays, E-DPM § 1222.
6. Effect of Holidays, E-DPM § 1223.

This issuance applies to those District government agencies subordinate to the Mayor’s personnel authority. Other personnel authorities or independent agencies may adopt any of these procedures to provide guidance to employees under their respective jurisdictions. The provisions in this issuance exclude the following employees:

1. Uniformed members of the Metropolitan Police Department; and
2. Uniformed members of the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department.