Non-legal holidays

AN ACT Relating to recognizing Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and 1
Hanukkah; and reenacting and amending RCW 1.16.050.2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:3
Sec. 1. RCW 1.16.050 and 2025 c 58 s 1001 and 2025 c 30 s 1 are 4
each reenacted and amended to read as follows: 5
(1) The following are state legal holidays: 6
(a) Sunday; 7
(b) The first day of January, commonly called New Year's Day;8
(c) The third Monday of January, celebrated as the anniversary of 9
the birth of Martin Luther King, Jr.; 10
(d) The third Monday of February, to be known as Presidents' Day 11
and celebrated as the anniversary of the births of Abraham Lincoln 12
and George Washington; 13
(e) The last Monday of May, commonly known as Memorial Day;14
(f) The nineteenth day of June, recognized as Juneteenth, a day 15
of remembrance for the day the African slaves learned of their 16
freedom; 17
(g) The fourth day of July, the anniversary of the Declaration of 18
Independence; 19
(h) The first Monday in September, to be known as Labor Day;20
(i) The eleventh day of November, to be known as Veterans Day;21
S-3790.1
SENATE BILL 6043
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Senators MacEwen, Hasegawa, and Holy
Prefiled 01/08/26. Read first time 01/12/26. Referred to Committee
on State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections.
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(j) The fourth Thursday in November, to be known as Thanksgiving 1
Day; 2
(k) The Friday immediately following the fourth Thursday in 3
November, to be known as Native American Heritage Day; and4
(l) The twenty-fifth day of December, commonly called Christmas 5
Day. 6
(2) Employees of the state and its political subdivisions, except 7
employees of school districts and except those nonclassified 8
employees of institutions of higher education who hold appointments 9
or are employed under contracts to perform services for periods of 10
less than twelve consecutive months, are entitled to one paid holiday 11
per calendar year in addition to those specified in this section. 12
Each employee of the state or its political subdivisions may select 13
the day on which the employee desires to take the additional holiday 14
provided for in this section after consultation with the employer 15
pursuant to guidelines to be promulgated by rule of the appropriate 16
personnel authority, or in the case of local government by ordinance 17
or resolution of the legislative authority. 18
(3) Employees of the state and its political subdivisions, 19
including employees of school districts and those nonclassified 20
employees of institutions of higher education who hold appointments 21
or are employed under contracts to perform services for periods of 22
less than twelve consecutive months, are entitled to two unpaid 23
holidays per calendar year for a reason of faith or conscience or an 24
organized activity conducted under the auspices of a religious 25
denomination, church, or religious organization. This includes 26
employees of public institutions of higher education, including 27
community colleges, technical colleges, and workforce training 28
programs. The employee may select the days on which the employee 29
desires to take the two unpaid holidays after consultation with the 30
employer pursuant to guidelines to be promulgated by rule of the 31
appropriate personnel authority, or in the case of local government 32
by ordinance or resolution of the legislative authority. If an 33
employee prefers to take the two unpaid holidays on specific days for 34
a reason of faith or conscience, or an organized activity conducted 35
under the auspices of a religious denomination, church, or religious 36
organization, the employer must allow the employee to do so unless 37
the employee's absence would impose an undue hardship on the employer 38
or the employee is necessary to maintain public safety. Undue 39
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hardship shall have the meaning established in rule by the office of 1
financial management under RCW 43.41.109. 2
(4) If any of the state legal holidays specified in this section 3
are also federal legal holidays but observed on different dates, only 4
the state legal holidays are recognized as a paid legal holiday for 5
employees of the state and its political subdivisions. However, for 6
port districts and the law enforcement and public transit employees 7
of municipal corporations, either the federal or the state legal 8
holiday is recognized as a paid legal holiday, but in no case may 9
both holidays be recognized as a paid legal holiday for employees.10
(5) Whenever any state legal holiday: 11
(a) Other than Sunday, falls upon a Sunday, the following Monday 12
is the legal holiday; or 13
(b) Falls upon a Saturday, the preceding Friday is the legal 14
holiday. 15
(6) Nothing in this section may be construed to have the effect 16
of adding or deleting the number of paid holidays provided for in an 17
agreement between employees and employers of political subdivisions 18
of the state or as established by ordinance or resolution of the 19
local government legislative authority. 20
(7) The legislature declares that the following days are 21
recognized as provided in this subsection, but may not be considered 22
legal holidays for any purpose: 23
(a) The eleventh day of January, recognized as human trafficking 24
awareness day; 25
(b) The thirteenth day of January, recognized as Korean American 26
day; 27
(c) The date corresponding with the second new moon following the 28
winter solstice, or the third new moon following the winter solstice 29
should an intercalary month intervene, recognized as the lunar new 30
year; 31
(d) The twenty-sixth day of January, recognized as Washington 32
army and air national guard day; 33
(e) The nineteenth day of February, recognized as civil liberties 34
day of remembrance; 35
(f) The ninth day of March, recognized as Billy Frank Jr. day;36
(g) The thirtieth day of March, recognized as welcome home 37
Vietnam veterans day; 38
(h) The thirty-first day of March, recognized as Cesar Chavez 39
day; 40
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(i) The ninth day of April, recognized as former prisoner of war 1
recognition day; 2
(j) The tenth day of April, recognized as Dolores Huerta day;3
(k) The sixteenth day of April, recognized as Mother Joseph day;4
(l) The fifteenth day of May, recognized as water safety day;5
(m) The twenty-seventh day of July, recognized as national Korean 6
war veterans armistice day; 7
(n) The seventh day of August, recognized as purple heart 8
recipient recognition day; 9
(o) The fourth day of September, recognized as Marcus Whitman 10
day; 11
(p) The fourth Saturday of September, recognized as public lands 12
day; 13
(q) The second Sunday in October, recognized as Washington state 14
children's day; 15
(r) The twelfth day of October, recognized as Columbus day;16
(s) The seventh day of December, recognized as Pearl Harbor 17
remembrance day; 18
(t) The eighteenth day of December, recognized as blood donor 19
day; 20
(u) The first day of the tenth month of the Islamic calendar, 21
which is lunar-cycle based and shifts by approximately 10 to 11 days 22
each year, commonly called Eid al-Fitr; ((and))23
(v) The tenth day of the twelfth month of the Islamic calendar, 24
which is lunar-cycle based and shifts by approximately 10 to 11 days 25
each year, commonly called Eid al-Adha;26
(w) The twenty-fifth day of the ninth month of the Hebrew 27
calendar, which is lunar-cycle based and shifts by approximately 11 28
days each year, commonly called Hanukkah;29
(x) The first day of the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar, 30
which is lunar-cycle based and shifts by approximately 11 days each 31
year, commonly called Rosh Hashanah; and32
(y) The tenth day of the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar, 33
which is lunar-cycle based and shifts by approximately 11 days each 34
year, commonly called Yom Kippur. 35
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