Apublic holiday,national holiday,federal holiday,statutory holiday,bank holiday orlegal holiday is aholiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year.
Acivic holiday, also known as acivil holiday orwork holiday, is a day that islegally recognized and celebrated as a holiday in a particularsovereign state orjurisdictional subdivision of such, e.g., a state or aprovince. It is usually a day that thelegislature,parliament,congress orsovereign has declared bystatute,edict ordecree as a non-working day when the official arms ofgovernment such as thecourt system are closed. Infederal states there may also be different holidays for the constituent states or provinces, as in the United States, where holidays that were established by the federal government are calledfederal holidays. Such days may or may not be counted in calculating thestatute of limitations in legal actions and are usually days whennon-custodialparents are given alternating visitation oraccess to their children from a priormarriage or relationship according to a parenting schedule.
The term may also be used to distinguish between days that may be celebrated as secular holidays rather thanreligious holidays such as the celebration of New Year's Day on January 1 (Gregorian calendar) and January 14 (Julian Calendar) in certaineastern Orthodox Christian countries such asRussia.
In the United Kingdom,bank holidays are days established as public holidays in statute law.[2] In England and Wales, Good Friday and Christmas Day are known as common law holidays, as they have been celebrated by custom since time immemorial.[3] Bank holidays were introduced in the late 19th century to extend the labour rights citizens have on common law holidays to four additional days.[3][4]
In Ireland,public holidays are sometimes colloquially referred to as "bank holidays".
The major social function of public holidays is the co-ordination of leisure time. This co-ordination has costs, such as congestion and overcrowding (in leisure facilities, on transport systems) and benefits (easier for people to arrange social occasions).[5]
Public holidays constitute an important part ofnation building and become important symbols of the nation. They can build and legitimise the nation and are intended to foster national unity, social cohesion and popular identification. They provide national governments with annual opportunities to reinforce the status of the nation.[citation needed] Sabine Marschall argues that public holidays can be regarded assites of memory, which preserve particular representations of historical events and particular national or public heroes.[6]
In some countries, there are national laws that make some or all public holidays paid holidays, and in other countries, there are nosuch laws, though many firms provide days off as paid or unpaid holidays.
They vary by country and may vary by year. With36 days a year, Nepal is the country with the highest number of public holidays but it observes six working days a week.India ranks second with 21 national holidays, followed byColombia and thePhilippines at 18 each. Likewise,Japan,China andHong Kong enjoy 17 public breaks a year.[7] Some countries (e.g. Cambodia) with a longer, six-day workweek, have more holidays (28) to compensate.[8]
Public holidays in Italy are established by theItalian parliament and, with the exception of city or communitypatronal days, apply nationwide.[11] These include a mix of national, religious and local observances. As forWhit Monday, there is an exception forSouth Tyrol. In Italy there are also State commemoration days, which are not public holidays.
In New Zealand, a national law sets12 paid public holidays. If a worker works on a public holiday, they are to be paid 1.5 times their regular rate of pay and be given another alternate day off.
Sabie Marschall argues that the revised set of public holidays in post-Apartheid South Africa attempts to produce and celebrate a particular national identity in line with the political goal of therainbow nation.[6]
In the United States, there is no national law requiring that employers pay employees who do not work on public holidays (although the U.S. states of Rhode Island and Massachusetts have paid holiday laws).
Some public holidays are controversial. For example, in the United States a federal holiday commemorates explorerChristopher Columbus, who is said to have discovered the Americas by Europeans. This has led to protests atColumbus Day parades and calls for the public holiday to be changed. Some states have adopted the day asIndigenous People's Day rather than Columbus Day.[12]
Similarly,Australia Day commemorates the day when theFirst Fleet first arrived in the country on 26 January 1788 atSydney Cove. This has also led to protests, with some Australians seeing the date as a symbol of the beginning of European oppression towards theindigenous population. The holiday has since garnered the nickname 'Invasion Day'.[13] Although the national date has not been changed, many Australia Day staples, such as citizenship ceremonies andTriple J'sHottest 100, have nonetheless been moved to alternative dates.[citation needed]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bank Holidays".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 320.
