Holidays were the subject of four bills in the just-ended California legislative session — but only one of the holidays attained full status as a paid day off for state workers.
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Native American Day will be a fully paid holiday for state workers (AB 1841). The observance, on the fourth Friday of September, had previously been on the list of days for which state employees could elect to take holiday credit.
Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha were given the status under which public schools and community colleges would be allowed (but not required) to close and state employees could elect to take time off using holiday credit (AB 2017).
Nine religious holidays are covered by AB 395, which requires agencies and schools to “make reasonable efforts” not to schedule major events on those days. The legislation names Eid al-Adha, Eid al-Fitr, Feast of the Nativity, Maha Shivaratri, Diwali, Dussehra, Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and the first day and last two days of Pesach (Passover). Religious holidays also were addressed by AB 1763, which includes them on the list of reasons for which students would be granted excused absences.
California’s paid days off for state employees
- New Year’s Day
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- Presidents’ Day
- Farmworkers Day (formerly Cesar Chavez Day)
- Memorial Day
- Independence Day
- Labor Day
- Native American Day
- Veterans Day
- Thanksgiving
- Day after Thanksgiving
- Christmas
Private employers aren’t required to provide paid time off or premium pay for those days.
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California’s official holidays differ from the federal list for these days:
• Farmworkers Day, Native American Day and the day after Thanksgiving are not paid holidays for federal employees.
• Juneteenth and Columbus Day are paid holidays for federal workers, but not for California’s.
Elective days for holiday credit
Most state employees can elect to use eight hours of holiday credit for the following holidays:
- Lunar New Year
- Genocide Remembrance Day
- Diwali
- Juneteenth
- Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha
The state’s government code also says the credit can be used for “observance of a holiday or ceremony of the state employee’s religion, culture, or heritage.”
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