What does a federal holiday mean?

A federal holiday is a day designated by the United States government as a holiday. There are eleven federal holidays. They are New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, President's Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth National Independence Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.

On federal holidays, non-essential federal government offices are closed and the employees are paid for the holiday. While federal government employees have federal holidays off, not every business is closed on federal holidays. If you work for a private company, it is dependent on each company to choose which days, if any, it takes as closed paid holidays.