What happens when MLK Day and Inauguration Day fall on the same day?

On January 16, 2025By Littum

For federal employees near Washington, DC, the upcoming Inauguration Day will look a little different, as the Jan. 20 federal holiday coincides with another federal holiday: Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Although Inauguration Day and MLK Day are two separate federal holidays, they fall on the same day this year. Despite that, federal employees will still only get one day off for keeping the two holidays at the same time, the Office of Personnel Management clarified in a Tuesday note to agencies.

When a federal holiday falls on a weekend, OPM will often set one instead of holiday where the federal holiday falls on a business day immediately preceding the actual holiday. However, in this case, OPM confirmed that there is no additional day off beyond the one federal holiday on January 20.

General Schedule employees working on Jan. 20, except for Senior Executive Service employees, are eligible for holiday pay, OPM said.

The simultaneous federal holiday differs from what federal employees saw for the previous Inauguration Day in January 2021. At the time, many unions saw a three-day work week with Monday off for MLK Day and Wednesday off for Inauguration Day.

Overlapping holidays may occasionally occur as each federal holiday is set differently. Each inauguration day is specifically set for January 20, with the incoming president being sworn in at noon, Eastern time, on that day. MLK Day federal holiday occurs on the third Monday of January each year. The last time Inauguration Day and MLK Day fell on the same date was in 1997 for President Bill Clinton’s second term.

This year, however, there is still an additional federal holiday in January. Federal agencies and offices will be closed on January 9 to honor the passing of President Jimmy Carter.

Salary, benefits for appointees who resign on inauguration day

On the same note, OPM too detailed the standard procedures for how pay, leave and benefits will work for non-career appointees who resign on induction day.

For resigning non-career appointees, the noon time of the induction ceremony means that all hours worked until noon on Jan. 20 must be paid, OPM said.

“Each agency is responsible for determining the number of hours of pay for each non-career appointee based on the employee’s work schedule for that day, prior to the termination of their appointment at noon,” OPM Associate Director for Workforce Policy and Innovation Veronica Hinton wrote in the memo .

Accrued leave hours for resigning appointees will depend on their position. Those covered by Section 5 – such as non-career employees on the General Schedule and in the SES – will not accrue leave hours for the January 12 pay period as they will not be working the full pay period.

But there may be other political appointees who are not covered by these leave systems and without a scheduled one business trip. OPM determined that they should still receive half a day’s pay for Jan. 20, since the swearing-in is expected to take place at noon.

Unlike accrued leave for most appointees, health care benefits will continue as normal until the end of the next pay period on Jan. 25, OPM said. Individuals can then obtain a 31-day extension of health coverage through the Federal Employees Health Benefits program at no charge. In addition, the FEHB cover can be extended for up to a year and a half, as long as the enrollee pays the full premium and an administration fee of 2%.

Under the standard rules, retiring appointees will also be credited for a full day of work toward their retirement benefits for a partial day of work, OPM said.