Holiday Observances for State Employees
Official State holidays are listed below. The University will be closed on these dates with the exception of those employees required to maintain essential Services, and floating holidays notated with an (a) and regular holidays where classes are in session notated with a (d).
All eligible classified and unclassified employees may observe the following holidays without charge to accruals:
New Year's Day
Wednesday, January 1, 2025
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Monday, January 20, 2025
Lincoln’s Birthday (a)
Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Washington’s Birthday
Monday, February 17, 2025
Memorial Day
Monday, May 26, 2025
Juneteenth
Thursday, June 19, 2025
Independence Day
Friday, July 4, 2025
Labor Day
Monday, September 1, 2025
Columbus Day (Buffalo State University recognizes Indigenous Peoples' Day)
Monday, October 13, 2025
Election Day (a)
Tuesday, November 4, 2025
Veteran's Day (d)
Tuesday, November 11, 2025
Thanksgiving Day
Thursday, November 27, 2025
Christmas Day
Thursday, December 25, 2025
New Year's Day
Thursday, January 1, 2026
Day After Thanksgiving
Friday, November 29, 2025
This is not a holiday; employees must charge accruals if not working. Please check your schedule with your supervisor to see if you are expected to work on this day. Only essential services will be maintained. The President has designated that the Election Day floater holiday can be used the day after Thanksgiving.
Resource: Attendance Manual: 2025 Legal Holidays
Election Day related: Time Off to Vote
(a) Classes will be in session. Offices will be open, and employees will be expected to work. The Office of Employee Relations notified all state agencies that floating holidays have been designated in lieu of fixed holidays for Election Day and Lincoln’s Birthday for all employees except those represented by PBANYS. UUP-represented employees observe Election Day on the day after Thanksgiving. Election Day has been designated as a floating holiday for employees in the CSEA, PEF, UUP and M/C units. Employees eligible to observe the holidays will be credited with a floating holiday and may arrange with their supervisors to use the credit on a date of their choice before the holiday recurs. For Security Services Unit employees (PBANYS and NYSCOPBA) who are eligible to observe holidays, Election Day and Lincoln's Birthday will be observed as fixed holidays. When such employees are required to work on these holidays, their benefits will be determined in the same manner as is currently followed for other holidays on which they are required to work.
(b) Under the Attendance Rules when a holiday falls on a Sunday it is observed on the following Monday.
(c) For employees who work Monday through Friday with Saturday and Sunday off, a holiday that falls on a Saturday will be observed as a pass day holiday and those eligible employees will earn appropriate holiday leave to be used at another time, subject to supervisory approval. Holiday leave not used one year after the date it is earned expires.
(d) Classes will be in session. Department heads and supervisors should communicate to their classified and professional employees whether they will be required to work on that day.
Department heads and supervisors are encouraged to make every effort to consider requests to have the holiday off for employees who are veterans.
For employees who are required to work, the following state attendance rules will apply:
Classified employees who work on November 11 will be compensated according to their holiday waiver status. Those who have NOT elected to waive additional money for holiday work will receive holiday pay per their bargaining unit agreements. Employees who waived additional money for holiday work will receive compensatory time off instead of additional holiday pay. Classified employees who wish to inquire about their current holiday waiver status may contact the Payroll Office at (716) 878-4124.
UUP-represented and M/C employees who are eligible to observe holidays and are required to work on November 11 will be granted a compensatory day off. The compensatory day off should be scheduled at a time agreeable to the employee and his or her supervisor within one year of the holiday.
Employees who are not required to work on November 11 do not need to charge leave accruals for that day.