2011 holidayschedulesfinal

SHRM Poll: 2011 Holiday Schedules
November 04, 2010

2011 Holiday Schedules | ©SHRM 2010
Key Findings
• Almost all organizations offer paid holidays. According to SHRM’s Employee Benefits Research Report
(2010), 97% of organizations offer paid holidays (one or more paid holiday per year).
• Did the financial challenges to the U.S. and global economy affect the number of holidays organizations
offered to employees in 2010 or plan to offer in 2011? The majority of organizations reported keeping the
number of holidays offered to employees the same despite economic challenges.
• Which 2011 holidays will most organizations observe? The 2011 holidays that most (95% or more)
organizations will observe by closing their offices are:
> New Year’s Day (Saturday, January 1st)
> Memorial Day (Monday, May 30th)
> Independence Day (Monday, July 4th)
> Labor Day (Monday, September 5th)
> Thanksgiving Day (Thursday, November 24th)
• Which religious holidays in 2011 will most organizations observe? Overall, few organizations observe
religious holidays other than Christmas Day, which 94% of organizations recognize by closing their offices on
that day. Twenty-six percent of organizations observe Good Friday.
2

In general, has the number of paid holidays offered by your organization
decreased, stayed the same or increased as a result of the financial
challenges to the U.S. and global economy?
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
2010 (n = 458)
2011 (n = 451)
2%
2%
95%
97%
3%
1%
Decreased Stayed the same Increased
3
• The majority of organizations reported keeping the number of holidays offered to
employees the same despite economic challenges.

2011 Holiday Schedules | ©SHRM 2010 4
2011 Holidays Organizations Plan to Observe
2011 Holidays (All) Offices Closed Offices Close Early Offices Remain Open
New Year’s Day 2011—celebrated as a
federal holiday on Friday, December 31st,
2010
61% 18% 21%
New Year’s Day 2011—celebrated on
Saturday, January 1st 96% * 4%
New Year’s Day 2011—celebrated on
Monday, January 3rd 19% 0% 81%
Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday—Monday,
January 17th 38% 0% 62%
Chinese and Vietnamese New Year—
Thursday, February 3rd 0% 0% 100%
President’s Day—Monday, February 21st
34% 0% 66%
Ash Wednesday—Wednesday, March 9th
1% * 99%
Passover—Tuesday, April 19th
0% 0% 100%
Good Friday—Friday, April 22nd
26% 6% 68%
Easter Monday—Monday, April 25th
6% 1% 93%
Memorial Day—Monday, May 30th
95% 1% 5%
Shavuot—Wednesday, June 8th
* 0% 100%
Note: n = 433-472. * indicates less than 1%. Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.

(continued )
Independence Day —Monday, July 4th
96% 1% 4%
Beginning of Ramadan—Monday, August 1st
0% 0% 100%
End of Ramadan—Wednesday, August 31st
1% 0% 99%
Labor Day—Monday, September 5th
95% 1% 4%
Rosh Hashanah—Thursday, September 29th
0% 0% 100%
Yom Kippur—Saturday, October 8th
7% 0% 93%
Columbus Day—Monday, October 10th
16% 0% 84%
Diwali—Wednesday, October 26th
0% * 100%
Day after the beginning of Eid al-Adha/Festival
of Sacrifice—Monday, November 7th
0% 0% 100%
Veterans Day—Friday, November 11th
21% * 79%
Day before Thanksgiving Day—Wednesday,
November 23rd 8% 17% 75%
Thanksgiving Day—Thursday, November 24th
97% 1% 2%
Day after Thanksgiving Day—Friday, November
25th 69% 2% 30%
Note: * indicates less than 1%. Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.

(continued )
Hanukkah (Chanukah) —Wednesday,
December 21st 1% 0% 99%
Day before Christmas Eve—Friday, December
23rd 33% 15% 53%
Christmas Eve—Saturday, December 24th
78% 10% 12%
Christmas Day—Sunday, December 25th
94% * 6%
Day after Christmas Day—Monday, December
26th 64% 1% 35%
Day before New Year’s Eve —Friday,
December 30th 25% 10% 65%
New Year’s Eve—Saturday, December 31st
71% 9% 21%
Week between Christmas and New Year’s
Day 12% 2% 86%

Was the decision to close your office the week between Christmas and
New Year’s Day made as a result of the recession in the U.S. and global
economy?
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Yes No, it is not a new practice
7%
93%
2%
98%
2009, n = 42 2010, n = 43
7
Note: “Not sure” responses were excluded from this analysis. Only respondents whose organization will be closed the week between Christmas and New
Year’s Day were included in this analysis.

(by U.S. Federal Holidays)
2011 U.S. Federal Holidays Offices Closed Offices Close Early Offices Remain Open
New Year’s Day 2011—celebrated as a
federal holiday on Friday, December 31st,
2010
61% 18% 21%
Martin Luther King Jr’s Birthday—Monday,
January 17th 38% 0% 62%
President’s Day—Monday, February 21st
34% 0% 66%
Memorial Day—Monday, May 30th
96% 1% 4%
Independence Day—Monday, July 4th
96% 1% 4%
Labor Day—Monday, September 5th
95% 1% 4%
Columbus Day—Monday, October 10th
16% 0% 84%
Veterans Day—Friday, November 11th
21% 1% 79%
Thanksgiving Day—Thursday, November 24th
97% 1% 2%
Day after Christmas Day**—Monday,
December 26th 64% 1% 35%
Note: Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.
*January 1, 2011 (the legal public holiday for New Year’s Day), falls on a Saturday. For most federal employees, Friday, December 31, 2010, will be treated as a
holiday.
** December 25, 2011 (the legal public holiday for Christmas Day), falls on a Sunday. For most federal employees, Monday, December 26, 2011, will be treated as a
holiday.

(by Religious Holidays)
2011 Religious Holidays Offices Closed
Offices Close
Early
Offices Remain Open
Ash Wednesday —Wednesday, March 9th
1% * 99%
Passover—Tuesday, April 19th
0% 0% 100%
Good Friday—Friday, April 22nd
26% 6% 68%
Easter Monday—Monday, April 25th
6% 1% 93%
Shavuot —Wednesday, June 8th
* 0% 100%
Beginning of Ramadan—Monday, August 1st
0% 0% 100%
End of Ramadan—Wednesday, August 31st
1% 0% 99%
Rosh Hashanah—Thursday, September 29th
0% 0% 100%
Yom Kippur—Saturday, October 8th
7% 0% 93%
Diwali—Wednesday, October 26th
0% * 100%
Day after the beginning of Eid al-Adha/Festival of
Sacrifice—Monday, November 7th
0% 0% 100%
Hanukkah (Chanukah)—Wednesday, December 21st
1% 0% 99%
Christmas Day—Sunday, December 25th
94% * 6%

Demographics: Organization Industry
Industry
Manufacturing –other 13%
Health care, social assistance (e.g., hospitals, clinics) 13%
Services –professional, scientific, technical, legal 9%
Financial services (e.g., banking) 8%
Educational services/education 8%
Retail/wholesale trade 6%
Government/public administration—federal, state/local, tribal 5%
Insurance 5%
Other services (e.g., other nonprofit, church/religious organizations) 4%
Transportation, warehousing (e.g., distribution) 3%
High-tech 3%
Consulting 3%
10
Note: n = 443. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding.

Demographics: Organization Industry (continued)
Industry
Construction, mining, oil and gas 2%
Services—accommodation, food and drinking places 2%
Utilities 2%
Publishing, broadcasting, other media 2%
Association—professional/trade 2%
Real estate, rental, leasing 1%
Manufacturing—auto/auto-related 1%
Arts, entertainment, recreation 1%
Telecommunications 1%
Pharmaceutical 1%
Biotech 1%
Other 5%
11
Note: n = 443. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding.

Demographics: Organization Sector
6%
7%
19%
20%
48%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Other
Government sector
Publicly owned for-profit organization
Nonprofit organization
Privately owned for-profit organization
12Note: n = 443

Demographics: Organization Staff Size
18%
27%
25%
20%
10%
0%
10%
20%
30%
1 to 99 employees 100 to 499 employees 500 to 2499 employees 2500 to 24999
employees
25000 or more
employees
13
Note: n = 277

Demographics: Other
14
Note: n = 450
U.S.-based operations 73%
Multinational operations 27%
Single-unit company: A
company in which the location
and the company are one and
the same
32%
Multi-unit company: A
company that has more than
one location
68%
Multi-unit headquarters determines HR
policies and practices
50%
Each work location determines HR
policies and practices
1%
A combination of both the work
location and the multi-unit
headquarters determine HR policies
and practices
48%
Is organization a single-unit company or a multi-
unit company?
Are HR policies and practices determined by
the multi-unit corporate headquarters, by each
work location or both?
Does the organization have U.S.-based
operations (business units) only or
does it operate multinationally?
Note: n = 432
Note: n = 316. Percentages do not total 100% due to
rounding.
• 15% of organizations indicated that
employees at their work location were
unionized.
Note: n = 443

SHRM Poll: 2011 Holidays Schedules
• Response rate = 18%
• Sample comprised of 472 HR professionals randomly
selected from SHRM’s membership
• Margin of error is +/- 5%
• Survey fielded September 30–October 19, 2010
15
Methodology
For more poll findings, visit:
www.shrm.org/surveys
Follow us on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/SHRM_Research

2011 holidayschedulesfinal

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