In the UK, when a holiday (bank holiday) happens to be on an "inconvenient" date the day everybody has off work is moved to the nearest Friday or Monday (making a long weekend). Thus, should a holiday date fall on a weekend, it is not lost as it moved to the Friday or Monday. However, when I lived in France, the holiday day off work was always on the date it was celebrating. If that happened to be on a sunday (or saturday) then so be it and you don't get an extra day off work !!. In the UK we complain how in France they have more Bank holidays than we do in the UK - but in France 2 out of every 7 are lost as they happen over a weekend !! I notice that 4 July was on a sunday this year. Does that mean everybody in the US has sunday off work !! and that was it or is there an extra holiday e.g. on the Monday ? Ian
It is the same in the US. Holiday observance can be controlled by different organizations. For instance, even though Independence Day is celebrated on July 4th, each year, often with patriotic parades and fireworks displays and picnics (as it is generally summer weather), government offices, and most banks, schools, and corporations will close on the Monday following when it occurs on a Sunday, or the Friday before if on a Saturday. Stores that are generally open on that day may or may not be open for the holiday (business decision) but seldom will recognize the 'alternate' day. One local community here even moved the parade/fireworks celebrations to Saturday this year instead of Sunday, presumably for traffic control and increased local business exposure, although someone told me the local churches in that community were vocal in the lobbying for that also.
Ian, Today is a national holiday. We have lots of Monday holidays to give us 3 day weekends. I've always wondered, what exactly is a bank holiday? Yeah, I reckon the banks are closed, but is that it?
This year, Canada Day (July 1) was on a Thursday, and most places were closed on the day, resuming work on Friday, then a normal weekend. If the date fell on a weekend, then either the Friday or Monday would be considered a holiday, similar to the US. Midweek holidays are not so fun, as you can't go anywhere. I took Friday off to get a 4 day weekend which was very nice.
