2021 Calendar of Legal Holidays for State Employees in the
Classified Service of the Executive Branch
The following information is issued by the Attendance and Leave Unit of the Division of Staffing Services and applies only to classified service employees in the Executive Branch who are subject to the Attendance Rules for Employees in New York State Departments and Institutions. For further information, please contact the Attendance and Leave Unit at (518) 457-2295.
Legal holidays listed are those contained in New York State’s General Construction Law. With the exception of Flag Day, all legal holidays are observed as holidays by eligible State employees. This calendar will be updated to reflect floating holidays for the fiscal year once they have been designated.
This calendar does not modify provisions of negotiated agreements or the Civil Service Commission’s Attendance Rules on the subject of holidays. Additional information on holiday benefits is contained in the Attendance and Leave Manual, Section 21.1.
| Month | Date | Day of Week | Legal Holiday |
| JANUARY | 1 | Friday | New Year’s Day |
| 18 | Monday | Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day | |
| FEBRUARY | 12 | Friday | Lincoln’s Birthday (a) |
| 15 | Monday | Washington’s Birthday (Observed) | |
| MAY | 31 | Monday | Memorial Day |
| JUNE | 19 | Saturday | Juneteenth (b) |
| JULY | 4 | Sunday | Independence Day |
| JULY | 5 | Monday | Independence Day (Observed) (c) |
| SEPTEMBER | 6 | Monday | Labor Day |
| OCTOBER | 11 | Monday | Columbus Day |
| NOVEMBER | 2 | Tuesday | Election Day (d) |
| 11 | Thursday | Veterans’ Day | |
| 25 | Thursday | Thanksgiving Day | |
| DECEMBER | 25 | Saturday | Christmas Day (b) |
(a) The State has designated Lincoln's Birthday as a floating holiday in 2021 for State employees in certain bargaining units.
(b) The State has not designated an alternate day of observance for Juneteenth or Christmas Day in 2021. They are pass day holidays.*
(c) Under the Attendance Rules when a holiday falls on a Sunday it is observed on the following Monday.
(d) The State has designated Election Day as a floating holiday in 2021 for State employees in certain bargaining units.
* All eligible full time employees with Attendance Rules coverage are entitled to 13 holidays a year. For classified service employees in the Executive branch of State service who work Monday through Friday with Saturday and Sunday off, Saturday, June 19 and Saturday, December 25, 2021 will be observed as pass day holidays and those eligible employees will earn 7.5 or 8 hours of holiday leave to be used at another time, subject to supervisory approval.
For CSEA employees in the ASU, OSU or DMNA bargaining unit, holiday leave not used one year after the date it is earned expires. Employees in the CSEA ISU, PS&T, RRSU, and M/C bargaining units should be given reasonable opportunity to exhaust holiday leave prior to separation.