2025 desk calendar on pink background. Here’s how to turn 16 days of PTO into 55 days of vacation.
Long weekends offer a perfect excuse to get away from your day-to-day life and unwind, and in 2025, there are several of them.
Six federal holidays fall on a Monday this upcoming year, according to the U.S. Officer of Personnel Management, and the Fourth of July is on a Friday.
According to Expedia's annual Vacation Deprivation Report, American employees receive the fewest days of paid leave globally — on average, first-year employees receive 11 paid vacation days and fifth-year employees receive 15, the U.S. Bureau of Labor found — and less than half of Americans planned to use all of them in 2024.
Though employers don't always give federal holidays off, most schools do. Taking advantage of them can extend some vacations to up to nine days while only using three or four days of paid time off.
Here's how to turn 16 days of PTO into 55 days of vacation.
Which federal holidays fall on a Monday in 2025?
In 2025, six federal holidays fall on a Monday, though Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Inauguration Day both fall on Jan. 20.
- Monday, Jan. 20: Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday
- Monday, Feb. 17: George Washington's Birthday, or Presidents' Day
- Monday, May 26: Memorial Day
- Friday, July 4: Fourth of July
- Monday, Sept. 1: Labor Day
- Monday, Oct. 13: Indigenous Peoples Day
When are the other federal holidays in 2025?
There are four other federal holidays in 2025: New Year's Day, Juneteenth, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
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- Wednesday, Jan. 1: New Year's
- Thursday, June 19: Juneteenth
- Thursday, Nov. 27: Thanksgiving
- Thursday, Dec. 25: Christmas
Maximizing your holiday vacation time
Holidays
From gift guides to local events, we're here to help you celebrate in style.
Three-day weekends aren't always conducive to planning a trip out of town, but tacking a day or two of PTO onto a holiday weekend can extend it by three or four days.
Here's when to request time off to make the most out of the holidays.
New Year's Day: Wednesday, Jan. 1
- Take PTO on Thursday, Jan. 2 and Friday, Jan. 3
- Days off: Jan. 1-5 (five days)
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday: Monday, Jan. 20
- Take PTO on Friday, Jan. 17
- Days off: Jan. 17–20 (four days)
Presidents Day: Monday, Feb. 17
- Take PTO on Friday, Feb. 14
- Days off: Feb. 14–17 (four days)
Memorial Day: Monday, May 26
- Take PTO on Friday, May 23
- Days off: May 23–26 (four days)
Juneteenth: Thursday, June 19
- Take PTO on Friday, June 20
- Days off: June 19–22 (four days)
Independence Day: Friday, July 4
- Take PTO on Monday, July 7
- Days off: July 4-7 (four days)
Labor Day: Monday, Sept. 1
- Take PTO on Friday, Aug. 29
- Days off: Aug. 29–Sept. 1 (four days)
Indigenous Peoples Day: Monday, Oct. 13
- Take PTO on Friday, Oct. 10
- Days off: Oct. 10–13 (four days)
Veterans Day: Tuesday, Nov. 11
- Take PTO on Monday, Nov. 10
- Days Off: Nov. 8–11 (four days)
Thanksgiving Day: Thursday, Nov. 27
- Take PTO on Monday, Nov. 24; Tuesday, Nov. 25, Wednesday, Nov. 26 and Friday, Nov. 28
- Days Off: Nov. 22–30 (nine days)
Christmas Day: Thursday, Dec. 25
- Take PTO on Monday, Dec. 22, Tuesday, Dec. 23, Wednesday, Dec. 24 and Friday, Dec. 26
- Days Off: Dec. 20–28 (nine days)
