Feds unlikely to get Christmas Eve off this year

An official decision on whether federal employees will have to work on Christmas Eve is still pending, according to the Office of Personnel Management.

Last year, President Bush gave employees the extra day off in an executive order issued on Dec. 5, but the indecision so far this year suggests Bush will not grant employees an extra vacation day in 2002. According to one source at OPM, chances are slim that employees will get a holiday.

If history is any indicator, federal employees will have to work on Tuesday, Dec. 24. Traditionally, the president has given employees Dec. 24 off when Christmas falls on a Tuesday, as it did last year. In fact, it's been 45 years since federal employees got extra time off when Christmas fell on a Wednesday. In the years since, Christmas has fallen on a Wednesday six times and federal workers had to work on all six of the days preceding it.

Although the president does not seem inclined to give employees a holiday on Christmas Eve, that does not preclude agency heads from deciding to close early on Dec. 24.

As for New Year's Eve, the president usually only gives federal employees Dec. 31 off when it falls on a Friday. New Year's Day is an annual holiday for workers.

The last time federal workers received extra time off at New Year's was in 1973, when President Nixon gave employees a full day off on Dec. 31. Christmas and New Year's Day both fell on a Tuesday that year.