1. SHRM Survey Findings: 2015 Holiday Schedules
November 10, 2014

2. Definitions
In this survey, a floating holiday is defined as a holiday that provides an employee paid time off to observe a holiday not observed by the organization. For example, employees receive a paid day off (in addition to paid holidays or vacation days) to take when they wish, such as on their birthday or on another holiday that is not a scheduled holiday for the organization.
2015 Holiday Schedules ©SHRM 2014

3. Key Findings
Which 2015 holidays will most organizations observe by closing their offices? The 2015 holidays that most organizations (94-97%) will observe are:
New Year’s Day (Thursday, January 1)
Memorial Day (Monday, May 25)
Labor Day (Monday, September 7)
Thanksgiving Day (Thursday, November 26)
Christmas Day (Friday, December 25)
Which religious holidays in 2015 will most organizations observe? Overall, few organizations close their offices on religious holidays, with the exception of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day: in 2015, 47% of organizations will be closed on Christmas Eve and 97% will be closed on Christmas Day. The next most common religious holiday for which some organizations will be closed is Good Friday (28%).
Does your organization offer floating holidays (other than personal days and paid holidays) to employees? Just over one-third (36%) of organizations reported offering “floating holidays” to employees. Of those that do offer these holidays, 72% offer 1-2 floating holidays a year.
2015 Holiday Schedules ©SHRM 2014

4. Percentage of Organizations Offering Paid Holidays to Employees
2015 Holiday Schedules ©SHRM 2014

5. Number of Paid Holidays Organizations Offer Annually (if this benefit is provided)
On average, organizations that provide the benefit offer 9 paid holidays to full- and part-time employees.
Note: Excludes floating holidays. Only respondents whose organizations offered paid holidays to the respective employee group were asked this question. Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding.
2015 Holiday Schedules ©SHRM 2014

6. Floating Holidays
Note: n = 489. Excludes personal days and paid holidays.
n = 173
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7. Organizations’ Operating Status on Weekends
One-third of organizations (33%) are typically open for business on at least one weekend day.
n = 488
2015 Holiday Schedules ©SHRM 2014

8. 2015 Holidays Organizations Plan to Observe: January - May
2015 Holiday, January-May
Closed
Close Early
Remain Open
New Year’s Day: Thursday, January 1
95%
< 1% 4%
Day after New Year’s Day: Friday, January 2
16% 2%
82%
MLK Jr’s birthday: Monday, January 19
37% 0%
63%
President’s Day: Monday, February 16
35%
65%
Ash Wednesday: Wednesday, February 18
100%
Chinese & Vietnamese New Year: Thursday, February 19
Good Friday: Friday, April 3
28% 5%
67%
Beginning of Passover: Saturday, April 4 3%
97%
Easter Monday: Monday, April 6
Friday before Memorial Day: Friday, May 22
12%
85%
Shavuot: Sunday, May 24
Memorial Day: Monday, May 25
94% 1%
Note: n = Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. For holidays that fall on a weekend, analysis includes only respondents whose organizations are regularly open for business on Saturday or Sunday.
2015 Holiday Schedules ©SHRM 2014

9. 2015 Holidays Organizations Plan to Observe: June - October
2015 Holiday, June-October
Closed
Close Early
Remain Open
First day of Ramadan: Thursday, June 18
< 1% 0%
100%
Day before Independence Day: Friday, July 3
60% 8%
33%
Independence Day: Saturday, July 4
76% 1%
23%
Monday after Independence Day: Monday, July 6 6%
94%
Friday before Labor Day: Friday, September 4
12%
87%
Labor Day: Monday, September 7
95% 5%
Rosh Hashanah: Monday, September 14
99%
Yom Kippur: Wednesday, September 23
Eid al-Adha/Festival of Sacrifice: Thursday, September 24
Sukkot: Monday, September 28
Columbus Day: Monday, October 12
16%
84%
Note: n = Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. For holidays that fall on a weekend, analysis includes only respondents whose organizations are regularly open for business on Saturday or Sunday.
2015 Holiday Schedules ©SHRM 2014

10. 2015 Holidays Organizations Plan to Observe: November - December
2015 Holiday, November-December
Closed
Close Early
Remain Open
Diwali: Wednesday, November 11 0%
< 1%
100%
Veterans Day: Wednesday, November 11
20% 1%
79%
Day before Thanksgiving: Wednesday, November 25 6%
74%
Thanksgiving Day: Thursday, November 26
97% 2%
Day after Thanksgiving: Friday, November 27
76%
23%
First day of Chanukah: Monday, December 7
Day before Christmas Eve: Wednesday, December 23 5% 7%
88%
Christmas Eve: Thursday, December 24
47%
28%
25%
Christmas Day: Friday, December 25 3%
Day after Christmas: Saturday, December 26
26%
73%
Week between Christmas and New Year’s Day
12%
87%
New Year’s Eve: Thursday, December 31
51%
Note: n = Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. For holidays that fall on a weekend, analysis includes only respondents whose organizations are regularly open for business on Saturday or Sunday.
2015 Holiday Schedules ©SHRM 2014

11. 2015 Federal Holidays Organizations Plan to Observe
Closed
Close Early
Remain Open
New Year’s Day: Thursday, January 1
95%
< 1% 4%
MLK Jr’s birthday: Monday, January 19
37% 0%
63%
President’s Day: Monday, February 16
35%
65%
Memorial Day: Monday, May 25
94% 1% 5%
*Day before Independence Day: Friday, July 3
60% 8%
33%
Independence Day: Saturday, July 4
76%
23%
Labor Day: Monday, September 7
Columbus Day: Monday, October 12
16%
84%
Veterans Day: Wednesday, November 11
20%
79%
Thanksgiving Day: Thursday, November 26
97% 2%
Christmas Day: Friday, December 25 3%
Note: n = Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. For holidays that fall on a weekend, analysis includes only respondents whose organizations are regularly open for business on Saturday or Sunday. * July 4, 2015 (the legal public holiday for Independence Day), falls on a Saturday; for most federal employees, Friday, July 3, will be treated as a holiday for pay and leave purposes.
2015 Holiday Schedules ©SHRM 2014

12. 2015 Religious Holidays Organizations Plan to Observe
Closed
Close Early
Remain Open
Ash Wednesday: Wednesday, February 18 0%
< 1%
100%
Chinese & Vietnamese New Year: Thursday, February 19
Good Friday: Friday, April 3
28% 5%
67%
Beginning of Passover: Saturday, April 4 3%
97%
Easter Monday: Monday, April 6
95%
Shavuot: Sunday, May 24
First day of Ramadan: Thursday, June 18
Rosh Hashanah: Monday, September 14
99%
Yom Kippur: Wednesday, September 23
Eid al-Adha/Festival of Sacrifice: Thursday, September 24
Sukkot: Monday, September 28
Diwali: Wednesday, November 11
First day of Chanukah: Monday, December 7
Day before Christmas Eve: Wednesday, December 23 7%
88%
Christmas Eve: Thursday, December 24
47%
25%
Christmas Day: Friday, December 25
Day after Christmas: Saturday, December 26
26% 1%
73%
Note: n = Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. For holidays that fall on a weekend, analysis only includes respondents whose organizations are regularly open for business on Saturday or Sunday.
2015 Holiday Schedules ©SHRM 2014

13. Looking Ahead: New Year’s Day 2016 (Friday, January 1, 2016)
Note: n = 470. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
2015 Holiday Schedules ©SHRM 2014

14. Change in the Number of Paid Holidays Offered by Organizations
Note: Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
2015 Holiday Schedules ©SHRM 2014

15. Demographics
2015 Holiday Schedules ©SHRM 2014

16. Demographics: Organization Industry
Percentage
Manufacturing
21%
Professional, scientific and technical services
17%
Health care and social assistance
14%
Finance and insurance
10%
Government agencies
Educational services 8%
Information 5%
Retail trade
Construction 4%
Religious, grant-making, civic, professional and similar organizations
Transportation and warehousing
Note: n = 463. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.
2015 Holiday Schedules ©SHRM 2014

17. Demographics: Organization Industry (continued)
Percentage
Wholesale trade 4%
Accommodation and food services 3%
Administrative and support, and waste management and remediation services
Utilities
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 2%
Arts, entertainment and recreation
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction
Real estate and rental and leasing
Personal and laundry services 1%
Repair and maintenance
Other industry 8%
Note: n = 463. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.
2015 Holiday Schedules ©SHRM 2014

18. Demographics: Organization Sector
2015 Holiday Schedules ©SHRM 2014

19. Demographics: Organization Staff Size
Note: n = 454. Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding.
2015 Holiday Schedules ©SHRM 2014

20. Demographics: Other
Is your organization a single-unit organization or a multi-unit organization?
Does your organization have U.S.-based operations (business units) only, or does it operate multinationally?
Single-unit organization: An organization in which the location and the organization are one and the same.
30%
Multi-unit organization: An organization that has more than one location.
70%
U.S.-based operations only
72%
Multinational operations
28%
n = 473
n = 475
For multi-unit organizations, are HR policies and practices determined by the multi-unit headquarters, by each work location or by both?
What is the HR department/function for which you responded for throughout this survey?
Multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices
58%
Each work location determines HR policies and practices 4%
A combination of both the work location and the multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices
38%
Corporate (companywide)
74%
Business unit/division
15%
Facility/location
12%
n = 346
n = 344
Note: Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding.
2015 Holiday Schedules ©SHRM 2014

21. SHRM Survey Findings: 2015 Holiday Schedules
Survey Methodology
Response rate = 17%
492 HR professionals from a randomly selected sample of SHRM’s membership participated in this survey
Margin of error +/-4%
Survey fielded October 8-23, 2014
2015 Holiday Schedules ©SHRM 2014

22. Additional SHRM Resources
SHRM Survey Findings: Paid Leave in the Workplace
SHRM Customized Benchmarking Service: Paid Leave Metrics
SHRM HR Topics & Strategy: Benefits: Paid Time Off
SHRM/Kronos Total Financial Impact of Employee Absences in the U.S.
2015 Holiday Schedules ©SHRM 2014

23. About SHRM Research
For more survey/poll findings, visit shrm.org/surveys For more information about SHRM’s Customized Research Services, visit shrm.org/customizedresearch Follow us on
Project lead:
Yan Dong, SHRM Research
Tanya Mulvey, researcher, SHRM Research
Project contributors:
Evren Esen, director, Survey Programs, SHRM Research
Copy editor:
Katya Scanlan, SHRM Knowledge Center
2015 Holiday Schedules ©SHRM 2014

24. About SHRM
Founded in 1948, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the world’s largest HR membership organization devoted to human resource management. Representing more than 275,000 members in over 160 countries, the Society is the leading provider of resources to serve the needs of HR professionals and advance the professional practice of human resource management. SHRM has more than 575 affiliated chapters within the United States and subsidiary offices in China, India and United Arab Emirates. Visit us at shrm.org.
2015 Holiday Schedules ©SHRM 2014