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Louise Thomas
Editor
While federal holidays can mean highly anticipated long weekends for some, the same is not true for all Americans.
On Monday, October 14, Americans will celebrate Columbus Day 2024 – an annual holiday that marks Christopher Columbus’ arrival in America.
More recently, the day – which became a federal holiday in 1937 – has become known as Indigenous Peoples' Day to recognize the civilisations that were in America long before Columbus’ arrival.
When it comes to US federal holidays, employers are more likely to give employees the day off for occasions like Christmas and New Year’s Day, rather than Columbus Day or Veterans Day.
This is what you need to know about working on Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
Do most Americans have the day off from work on Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day?
Although Columbus Day is a federal holiday, the only people guaranteed a paid day off are federal employees as government offices will be closed. Most banks will also be closed, so bank employees will likely have a paid day off as well. But whether your employer decides to give you a paid day off is entirely at their discretion.
According to a 2023 report from the Pew Research Center, only 16 states and the territory of American Samoa still observe the second Monday in October as an official public holiday exclusively called Columbus Day. Maine, New Mexico, Vermont and Washington, DC, all renamed Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day in 2019, while retaining it as an official holiday.
Columbus Day became US federal holiday in 1937 following an effort by Roman Catholic Italian Americans to establish Columbus, a Catholic Italian, as an important and central figure in American history. The holiday was moved from October 12 to the second Monday in October starting in 1971.
For more about US federal holidays, you can find a list of this year’s holidays here.
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