USPS recognizes ten holidays throughout the year. On these days, there’s no mail delivery, and letter carriers have the day off. However, some postal workers, like clerks who dispatch mail or those working in plant distribution facilities, may be required to work on holidays.
That begs the question—what does USPS do about holiday pay? If you’d like to know more about which days are USPS holidays and how the Postal Service pays its employees who work on these days, then you’re in the right place!
USPS Holiday Pay In 2024
USPS observes ten holidays per year as of 2024. Full-time and part-time regular letter carriers receive holiday pay (equal to eight hours at their regular hourly rate) holidays. Most City Carrier Assistants receive six paid holidays per year. Employees who work on holidays receive their normal base pay plus an additional eight hours of pay for working holidays.
If you still have questions about how USPS’ holiday pay works, then make sure to keep reading!
What Holidays Does USPS Observe?
USPS observes ten holidays per year. That said, here are the holidays USPS celebrates:
- New Year’s Day: January 1
- Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday: 3rd Monday in January
- Washington’s Birthday/Presidents’ Day: 3rd Monday in February
- Memorial Day: Last Monday in May
- Independence Day: July 4
- Labor Day: 1st Monday in September
- Columbus Day: 2nd Monday in October
- Veterans’ Day: November 11
- Thanksgiving Day: 4th Thursday in November
- Christmas Day: December 25
What Are The Paid Holidays At USPS?
Paid holidays at USPS depend on the employee’s job title and role.
That said, full-time letter carriers and part-time regular letter carriers receive holiday pay for the ten holidays listed above.
Also, City Carrier Assistants (CCAs) receive holiday pay for six holidays per year:
- New Year’s Day
- Memorial Day
- Independence Day
- Labor Day
- Thanksgiving Day
- Christmas Day
In addition to these holidays, USPS has guidelines for holiday pay when holidays fall on weekends and days off.
For example, when a holiday falls on a Saturday, the preceding Friday is observed as the holiday.
Likewise, when a holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is observed as a holiday.
In addition, if an employee’s day off falls on a day observed as a holiday, the employee’s last scheduled workday before the holiday is designated as the employee’s holiday.
How Much Does USPS Pay On Holidays?
Full-time and part-time letter carriers receive holiday pay at their base hourly rate for eight hours.
Further, City Carrier Assistants (CCAs) working in offices with 200 work hours also receive eight hours of pay, while those in POStPlan offices receive four hours.
Additionally, all other CCAs receive six hours of holiday pay.
Also, a POStPlan office is any Post Office with a designation below Level 18. Currently, there are only 23 CCAs employed in such offices throughout the country.
What Is The USPS Holiday Scheduling Premium?
Holiday Scheduling Premium, also known as holiday worked pay, refers to USPS employees’ pay when they work on holidays or designated holidays.
Many refer to this premium as overtime, but that’s a misnomer. With that, every time a USPS employee works on a holiday, their pay is categorized as a premium, not as extra time worked.
However, overtime pay would only come into play if an employee worked more than eight hours on a holiday.
If that were the case, any time over eight hours would be considered overtime and paid as such (one and a half times the regular base pay).
What Does USPS Holiday-Worked Pay Mean?
USPS employees who work on a recognized holiday or a designated holiday (except Christmas) earn holiday-worked pay.
In other words, when postal workers work on a holiday (whether it’s the actual holiday or a designated holiday), they receive their normal pay plus pay for the holiday.
Further, let’s look at an example to make things clearer. So, a postal worker who earns $20 per hour is scheduled to work eight hours on a holiday.
In this case, they’ll receive eight hours of pay at their regular rate ($20) plus eight hours of holiday pay at $20 per hour.
On a non-holiday, their gross pay is $160. But, on a holiday, it is $320.
What Does USPS Christmas-Worked Pay Mean?
USPS’ holiday-worked pay rules apply to nine of the ten USPS holidays. However, Christmas is the exception and has its own set of rules when it comes to paying.
That said, if an employee is required to work on Christmas day (or their designated Christmas holiday), they’re paid their normal base pay for hours worked, plus holiday pay at their base rate, plus Christmas-worked pay.
Further, Christmas-worked pay is equal to 50 percent of an employee’s base pay rate.
Again, let’s take the example of a postal worker earning $20 per hour. If they end up working eight hours on Christmas, they’ll make:
- Eight hours of regular pay (at $20 per hour)
- Eight hours of holiday pay (at $20 per hour)
- Eight hours of Christmas-worked pay (at $10 per hour)
On any other holiday, their gross pay would be $320. On Christmas, it would be $400.
To know more about USPS, you can also see our posts on USPS pre-hire list, USPS attendance policy, and USPS inclement weather policy.
Conclusion
Compared to many private companies in the United States, the Postal Service’s holiday pay is quite generous, with career-track employees getting ten paid holidays and temporary workers getting six.
What’s more, if a USPS employee ends up working on a holiday, they’ll make double what they would on a typical day (two and a half times on Christmas!).
Obviously, most people don’t want to work on holidays, but a pay plan like USPS’ makes it more tolerable.
