ATTENDANCE AND LEAVE MANUAL
TRANSMITTAL MEMORANDUM NO. 41
Appendix B
June 2015

TO: Manual Recipients
FROM: Scott DeFruscio, Director of Staffing Services
SUBJECT: Attendance and Leave Manual Appendix B

This memorandum transmits the material listed below for insertion in your copy of the Attendance and Leave Manual.

  Section Pages Date

(1) Introduction

Appendix B

1-2

June 2015

(2) 2016 Calendar of
Legal Holidays and
Days of Religious
Significance

Appendix B

 

3-6

 

June 2015

 

 

The following material should be retained until June 8, 2017, and then removed from your copy of the Manual and destroyed.

  Section Pages Date
(1) Introduction Appendix B 1-2 July 2014
(2) 2015 Calendar of
Legal Holidays and
Days of Religious
Significance
Appendix B 3-6 July 2014

Introduction

The New York State General Construction Law establishes the days or dates on which legal holidays are observed in New York State. Under this law, holidays other than Flag Day which fall on a Sunday are observed on the following Monday. The Attendance Rules and negotiated agreements identify which of these legal holidays are observed as paid holidays by New York State as an employer. This calendar does not modify negotiated agreements or Attendance Rules items on the subject of holidays. (See Section 21.1, Holidays, in this Manual.)

Information concerning the days of religious significance was obtained from official religious sources. Since it is not possible to include in this calendar the days of religious significance of every faith, agencies with questions about other religious observances should call the Attendance and Leave Unit of this Department at (518) 457-2295.

The calendar is intended as a guide, since special and local conditions may cause variation from official practice. It is impossible here to note every observance, such as an individual saint’s day, which ordinarily would not require absence from work.

The following further explains days of religious significance and the calendar notations:

  1. An asterisk (*) indicates a day of required religious observance. The letters before an asterisk indicate the faiths for which the day is a day of required religious observance. The abbreviations used correspond to the following denominations or subdenominations:

    EO - Eastern Orthodox
    P - Protestant
    RC - Roman Catholic
    OJ - Orthodox Jew
    CJ - Conservative Jew
    RJ - Reform Jew
    M - Muslim

  2. All days of religious significance for the Jewish faith begin at sundown on the evening before the date given.
  3. The Orthodox Jewish faith requires its members to observe each Saturday as the Sabbath. Its members are not permitted to travel by car or common carrier after sundown on Friday evening.
  4. Reform Jews observe one day of required religious observance at the beginning and end of holy days rather than the two days Conservative and Orthodox Jews observe.
  5. The Roman Catholic Church requires its members to attend Mass every Sunday and on days of required religious observance. In some areas, this obligation may be fulfilled by attending Mass after 4 p.m. on the preceding day. In some communities, the Solemnity of the Mother of God (January 1), The Assumption (August 15), and All Saints Day (November 1) are not considered to be days of required religious observance if they fall on a Saturday or a Monday.
  6. The Eastern Orthodox Church requires its members to attend Divine Liturgy on Sundays and on days of required religious observance.
  7. Some Eastern Orthodox churches, including many Russian Orthodox parishes, follow the Julian rather than the Gregorian calendar. For this reason, they celebrate certain days of religious significance 13 days later than the dates listed by the Eastern Orthodox Church.
  8. Members of the Islamic faith observe Fridays as their major day of worship. The fast of Ramadan begins at sundown on the evening before the date given; there is no prohibition on working during Ramadan. The two days of required religious observance are Eid-ul-Fitr (Festival of Fastbreaking) and Eid-ul-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice). Members of the Islamic faith are prohibited from working on those two days. All of the dates of Islamic observance are tentative because they are based on sightings of the moon. Those wishing to confirm the exact dates should call the Attendance and Leave Unit no more than 30 days before the date listed on the calendar.

MONTH

DATE

DAY

LEGAL HOLIDAYS

DAYS OF RELIGIOUS
SIGNIFICANCE

JANUARY

1

Friday

New Year's Day

Solemnity of the Mother of God (RC*)
Feast of the Circumcision (EO*)

6

Wednesday   Feast of Epiphany (EO*) (P) (RC)
18
Monday Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day  

18 to
25

Monday to
Monday
  Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (P) (RC)

25

Monday

 

Tu Bi Shevat (OJ, CJ, RJ)

FEBRUARY

2

Tuesday

 

The Presentation of Christ (EO*)
Presentation of the Virgin Mary (EO*)

10

Wednesday   Ash Wednesday (P) (RC)

12

Friday Lincoln's Birthday (1)  

14

Sunday

 

First Sunday of Lent (P)

15

Monday

Washington's Birthday (Observed)

 

MARCH

4

Friday

 

World Day of Prayer (P)

5

Saturday

 

Saturday of Souls (EO)

12

Saturday

 

Saturday of Souls (EO)

19

Saturday

 

Saturday of Souls (EO)

20

Sunday

 

Palm Sunday (P) (RC)
Sunday of Orthodoxy (EO)

23

Wednesday

 

Fast of Esther (OJ, CJ, RJ)

24

Thursday

 

Holy Thursday (RC)
Maundy Thursday (P)
Purim (OJ, CJ, RJ)

25

Friday

 

The Annunciation (EO*)
Good Friday (P) (RC)

27

Sunday

 

Easter Sunday (P) (RC)

APRIL

22

Friday

 

First Passover Seder (OJ*, CJ*, RJ*)

23

Saturday

 

Passover (OJ*, CJ*, RJ*)

24

Sunday

 

Palm Sunday (EO*)
Passover (OJ*, CJ*, RJ)

25 to
28

Monday to Thursday

 

Intermediate Days of Passover (OJ, CJ, RJ)

28

Thursday

 

Holy Thursday (EO*)

29

Friday

 

Good Friday (EO*)
Passover (OJ*, CJ*, RJ*)

30

Saturday

 

Holy Saturday (EO*)
Passover (OJ*, CJ*)

MAY

1

Sunday

 

Easter Sunday (EO*)

2

Monday

The Feast of Saint George (EO)

5

Thursday

 

Ascension Thursday (P) (RC*)
May Friendship Day (P)
Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Memorial Day)

6

Friday

 

The Feast of the Lifegiving Fountain (EO)

11

Wednesday

 

Yom Hazikaron (Day of Remembrance)

12

Thursday

 

Yom Haatzmaut (Israel Independence Day)

15

Sunday

 

Pentecost (P) (RC)

21

Saturday

 

Feast of Sts. Constantine and
Helen (EO)

26

Thursday

 

Lag Ba Omer (OJ, CJ, RJ)

29

Sunday

 

Corpus Christi (RC)

30

Monday

Memorial Day

 

 

JUNE

5

Sunday

Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day)

6

Monday

  First Day of Ramadan (M) (2)

9

Thursday

  Ascension Thursday (EO*)

12

Sunday

Flag Day (3)

Shavuot (OJ*, CJ*, RJ*)

13

Monday

  Shavuot (OJ*, CJ*)

18

Saturday

  Saturday of Souls (EO)

19

Sunday

  Pentecost (EO*)

20

Monday

  The Feast of the Holy Spirit (EO)

26

Sunday

 

All Saints Day (EO)

29

Wednesday

 

Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul (EO)

JULY

4

Monday

Independence Day

 

6

Wednesday

 

Eid-ul-Fitr (Festival of Fastbreaking) (M*)

24

Sunday  

The Fast of Tammuz (OJ, CJ, RJ)

AUGUST

6

Saturday

 

The Transfiguration of Jesus Christ (EO*)

14

Sunday

 

Fast of AV (OJ, CJ, RJ)

15

Monday

 

The Assumption (RC)
The Repose of the Blessed Mother (EO*)

SEPTEMBER

5

Monday

Labor Day

 

11

Sunday

 

Eid-ul-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice) (M*)

14

Wednesday

 

The Elevation of the Holy Cross (EO*)

OCTOBER

2

Sunday

 

World Communion Sunday (P)

3

Monday

 

Rosh Hashanah (OJ*, CJ*, RJ*)

4

Tuesday

 

Rosh Hashanah (OJ*, CJ*, RJ)

10

Monday

Columbus Day

11

Tuesday

 

Kol Nidrei (OJ*, CJ*, RJ*)

12

Wednesday

 

Yom Kippur (OJ*, CJ*, RJ*)

17

Monday

 

Sukkot (OJ*, CJ*, RJ*)

18

Tuesday

 

Sukkot (OJ*, CJ*)

19

Wednesday

 

Intermediate Days of Sukkot (OJ, CJ, RJ)

20
to 23

Thursday
to Sunday
  Intermediate Days of Sukkot (OJ, CJ, RJ)

24

Monday  

Shemini Atzeret (OJ*, CJ*, RJ*)

25

Tuesday  

Simchat Torah (OJ*, CJ*)

26

Wednesday  

Feast of St. Demetrios (EO)

31

Monday  

Reformation Day (P)

 

NOVEMBER

 

1

Tuesday

 

All Saints Day (P) (RC*)

2

Wednesday

 

All Souls Day (RC)

8

Tuesday

Election Day

 

11

Friday

Veterans' Day

 

24

Thursday

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day (P)

27

Sunday

 

First Sunday of Advent (P)

DECEMBER

6

Tuesday

 

Feast of St. Nicholas (EO)

8

Thursday

 

Feast of the Immaculate Conception (RC*)

25

Sunday

Christmas Day

Christmas Day (P)
Feast of the Nativity (EO*) (RC*)

26

Monday

Christmas Day (4)(Observed)


25 to January 1, 2017

Sunday to Sunday

 

Chanukah (OJ, CJ, RJ)

26

Monday

 

First Day of Kwanzaa (5)

27

Tuesday

 

Feast of St. Stephen (EO)

(1) The State has designated Lincoln's Birthday as a floating holiday in 2016 for State employees in certain bargaining units.
(2) The observance of Ramadan is anticipated to begin on June 6, 2016. See introduction, Note 8.
(3) Flag Day, the second Sunday in June, is not observed on the following Monday, and is not a paid holiday for State employees.
(4) Under the Attendance Rules, when a holiday falls on a Sunday, it is observed on the following Monday.
(5) Kwanzaa actually ends on January 1, 2017.