§ 1–612.02. Legal public holidays.

(a) Legal public holidays are as follows:

(1) New Year’s Day, January 1st of each year;

(2) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday, the 3rd Monday in January of each year;

(3) Washington’s Birthday, the 3rd Monday in February of each year;

(4) Memorial Day, the last Monday in May of each year;

(4A) Juneteenth National Independence Day, June 19th of each year;

(5) Independence Day, July 4th of each year;

(6) Labor Day, the 1st Monday in September of each year;

(7) Indigenous Peoples' Day, the 2nd Monday in October of each year;

(8) Veterans Day, November 11th of each year;

(9) Thanksgiving Day, the 4th Thursday in November of each year;

(10) Christmas Day, December 25th of each year; and

(11) Beginning in the year 2007, District of Columbia Emancipation Day, April 16th of each year.

(b) For purposes of pay and leave with respect to a legal public holiday listed in subsection (a) of this section and any other day designated to be a legal holiday by the Mayor, the following rules and regulations shall apply:

(1) For full-time employees whose basic workweek is Monday through Friday, if a legal holiday occurs on Saturday, the Friday immediately before is a legal public holiday and if a legal holiday occurs on Sunday, the Monday immediately following is a legal public holiday;

(2) For full-time employees whose basic workweek is other than Monday through Friday, except the regular weekly nonworkday administratively scheduled for the employee instead of Sunday, the workday immediately before that regular weekly nonworkday is a legal public holiday for the employee; and

(3) For part-time employees, a legal holiday or a day designated as a holiday under paragraph (1) of this subsection which falls on the employee’s regularly scheduled workday is a legal public holiday for the employee.

(c) January 20th of each 4th year starting in 1981, Inauguration Day, is a legal public holiday for the purpose of pay and leave of employees scheduled to work on that day. When January 20th of any 4th year falls on Sunday, the next succeeding day selected for the public observance of the inauguration of the President is a legal public holiday for the purposes of this section.

(d) When an employee, having a regularly scheduled tour of duty is relieved or prevented from working on a day District agencies are closed by order of the Mayor, he or she is entitled to the same pay for that day as for a day on which an ordinary day’s work is performed.

(e) The Mayor shall prescribe rules and regulations governing the pay and leave of employees in connection with legal public holidays and other designated nonworkdays.

(f) The Board of Trustees of the University of the District of Columbia shall have authority to establish not more than 3 additional holidays to honor persons or events germane to academic interests.

(Mar. 3, 1979, D.C. Law 2-139, § 1202, 25 DCR 5740; Mar. 14, 1985, D.C. Law 5-155, § 2, 32 DCR 11; Feb. 24, 1987, D.C. Law 6-177, § 3(q), 33 DCR 7241; Aug. 1, 1996, D.C. Law 11-152, § 302(p), 43 DCR 2978; Apr. 3, 2001, D.C. Law 13-237, § 3(a), 48 DCR 597; Apr. 5, 2005, D.C. Law 15-288, § 3, 52 DCR 1441; Mar. 2, 2007, D.C. Law 16-191, § 95, 53 DCR 6794; Dec. 3, 2020, D.C. Law 23-149, § 1092, 67 DCR 10493; July 12, 2022, D.C. Law 24-147, § 102(b), 69 DCR 003386.)

Prior Codifications

1981 Ed., § 1-613.2.

1973 Ed., § 1-342.2.

Section References

This section is referenced in § 25-723 and § 38-2021.08.

Effect of Amendments

D.C. Law 13-237, in the section heading, inserted “Public”.

D.C. Law 15-288, in subsec. (c), designated the existing text as par. (1), and added par. (2).

D.C. Law 16-191, in subsec. (a), validated a previously made technical correction in par. (9), substituted “; and” for a period at the end of par. (10), and added par. (11); and, in subsec. (c), deleted the par. (1) designation and repealed par. (2), which had read as follows: “(2) April 16 of each year starting in 2005 shall be District of Columbia Emancipation Day, which shall be a legal public holiday for the purpose of pay and leave of employees scheduled to work on that day; provided, that in 2005 and 2006, it shall be celebrated on the date of April 16 and not on the following Monday.”

Cross References

Retirement of public school teachers, annuities, computation, years of service, see § 38-2021.08.

Emergency Legislation

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2 of Indigenous Peoples' Day Emergency Amendment Act of 2019 (D.C. Act 23-128, Oct. 11, 2019, 66 DCR 13532).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see §§ 2 and 3 of District of Columbia Emancipation Day Emergency Amendment Act of 2005 (D.C. Act 16-66, April 20, 2005, 52 DCR 4140).

For temporary (90 day) amendment, see § 2 of District of Columbia Emancipation Day Alternate Date Emergency Amendment Act of 2005 (D.C. Act 16-148, July 26, 2005, 52 DCR 7189).

Temporary Legislation

For temporary (225 days) amendment of this section, see § 2 of Indigenous Peoples' Day Temporary Amendment Act of 2019 (D.C. Law 23-45, Jan. 10, 2020, 66 DCR 15341).

For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 2 of District of Columbia Emancipation Day Alternate Date Temporary Amendment Act of 2005 (D.C. Law 16-41, December 10, 2005, law notification 52 DCR 11037).

For temporary (225 day) addition, see § 2(a) of District of Columbia Emancipation Day Temporary Act of 2000 (D.C. Law 13-152, July 18, 2000, law notification 47 DCR 6102).

Effective Dates

Section 4(b) of D.C. Law 5-155 provided that §§ 2 and 3 of the act shall take effect January 1, 1986.

Editor's Notes

Repeal of § 3 of Law 6-177: Section 4(b) of D.C. Law 6-177 provided that the provisions of § 3 are repealed on the 1st day following the 36-month period after February 24, 1987.

Repeal of § 4(b) of Law 6-177: Section 3(b) of D.C. Law 8-74, effective March 15, 1990, provided that § 4(b) of D.C. Law 6-177 is repealed.