Juneteenth gives federal employees 44 paid days off each year: Study

Federal employees get 44 paid days off work each year, according to a new study by OpenTheBooks.com, a watchdog group.

The 44th day was added this week when President Biden signed a bill creating a federal holiday for Juneteenth, to mark the emancipation of enslaved African Americans at the end of the Civil War. The observance is June 19, but since it falls this year on a Saturday — already an off day — federal employees have Friday off as a paid day.

It’s the eleventh paid holiday, which OpenTheBooks said comes on top of 13 possible sick days and 20 vacation days per year for the average federal employee. Before Juneteenth, that worked out to $22.6 billion worth of time paid for no work, the watchdog said.

Federal employees make out far better than the average American worker.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said workers average 7.6 paid holidays, and even the most senior employees average about 15 days of vacation and 10 or 11 days of paid sick leave.