Federal Banking Holiday Basics
A federal banking holiday is a specific date that the US federal government has designated as a holiday. On these dates, banks are generally closed and do not process transactions, including payments to employees or tax agencies.
Keep in mind that a check date scheduled on a federal banking holiday will be automatically moved to a non-federal banking holiday by Toast. What day the check date is moved to depends on your selection in onboarding (see Milestone 3, step 2 in Toast Payroll: Get Started With Onboarding and Implementation). For example:
Thanksgiving is a banking holiday that occurs on a Thursday. If a check date falls on that Thursday, Toast will either move the check date to the prior business day (Wednesday, submit payroll by Monday at 4 p.m. CST) or the next business day (Friday, submit payroll by Tuesday at 4 p.m. CST to account for the holiday) to help avoid processing delays.
Memorial Day is a banking holiday that occurs on a Monday. If a check date normally falls on a Monday, Toast will either move the check date to the prior business day (Friday, submit payroll by Wednesday at 4 p.m. CST) or the next business day (Tuesday, submit payroll by Thursday at 4 p.m. CST to account for the holiday) to help avoid processing delays.
Check your payroll dashboard to confirm payroll due dates. This one was adjusted to the Friday prior to account for the Labor Day holiday:
To review your scheduled check dates throughout the year, navigate to Reports > Standard and search for the Payroll Calendar Report.
Federal Banking Holiday Schedule
This holiday schedule is pulled directly from federalreserve.gov.
Holiday
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2025
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2026
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2027
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2028
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New Years Day
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January 1
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January 1
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January 1
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January 1
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Birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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January 20
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January 19
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January 18
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January 17
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George Washington's Birthday
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February 17
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February 16
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February 15
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February 21
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Memorial Day
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May 26
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May 25
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May 31
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May 29
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Juneteenth National Independence Day
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June 19
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June 19
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June 19
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June 19
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Independence Day
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July 4
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July 4
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July 4
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July 4
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Labor Day
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September 1
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September 7
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September 6
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September 4
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Indigenous People's (Columbus) Day
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October 13
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October 12
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October 11
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October 9
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Veteran's Day
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November 11
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November 11
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November 11
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November 11
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Thanksgiving Day
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November 27
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November 26
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November 25
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November 23
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Christmas Day
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December 25
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December 25
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December 25
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December 25
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Federal Banking Holidays and Payroll Processing
It's vital to process and submit payroll by the deadline seen in the system. If payroll is submitted late, even by a few minutes or hours, your company's check date may automatically be pushed to the next business day after the holiday. Toast is unable to "speed up" a payroll that was submitted late. |
Federal banking holidays are generally not considered business days and should not be considered when determining when to process payroll. For example:
Thanksgiving is a federal banking holiday that falls on a Thursday. If a payroll check date is scheduled for Friday after Thanksgiving, submitting payroll by 4 p.m. CST on the Tuesday prior can assist in avoiding processing delays.
If payroll is submitted on Thanksgiving, this will automatically push the check date out to the upcoming Monday. Toast Payroll always requires a day to process each payroll, which in this case would be the Friday after Thanksgiving.
If a payroll check date is scheduled on Thanksgiving according to your normal pay frequency, Toast Payroll will automatically move it to the business day you indicated in onboarding, which would be either Wednesday or Friday in this example.
Federal Banking Holidays and Weekends
When anticipating an upcoming federal banking holiday, it is also important to remember that most banks do not process transactions on the weekend. For example, let's say that Independence Day falls on a Monday. If a payroll check date is also scheduled for Monday, submitting payroll before 4 pm CST on the Thursday before Independence Day can account for both the weekend and the holiday.
Pay close attention to payroll Due Dates on the Pay Cycle Dashboard as they will be adjusted accordingly for the banking holidays.
Payroll Not Submitted in Time
If you were unable to submit a payroll intended for a pre-federal holiday check date, we have two resources to help you decide on your next steps. If you decide to submit the payroll anyways, check out Toast Payroll: Get Help With When Employees Are Paid to learn when your payroll will be distributed based on the time and scenario you submit it in. If you'd like to get your employees paid before the holiday, read the Pay In-Person Using a Quick Calc section of Toast Payroll: Missed Employee or Missed Pay on Payroll as this is the fastest and only method to pay employees when a federal holiday processing deadline has been missed.
Additional Resources
This content is for informational purposes and is not intended as legal, tax, HR, or any other professional advice. Please contact an attorney or other professional for advice.