Are you celebrating Martin Luther King Day from the comfort of your cubicle? If so, you are not alone. A recent Bloomberg BNA Holiday Practices Survey revealed that only 37 percent of American employers currently give workers a paid day off on Martin Luther King Day. While 37 percent may not seem like a lot (particularly for those of us at work today), the researchers note that its the highest since the holiday was first observed 29 years ago.
“The trend, for the most part, has been moving steadily up since the inception of the holiday in 1986,” said Matt Sottong, Bloomberg BNA’s director of surveys and research reports, told the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. “That year it was at 14 percent, and now we are at 37 percent. So, I am pretty comfortable in saying that the trend is going in the northerly direction. More employers are providing a day off for their employees this year than in any year.” While Martin Luther King Day is nowhere near the popularity of the paid holidays like New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas the survey notes that it is more popular than federal holidays like President’s Day and Veterans Day. The researchers found that 35 percent of employers who responded to the survey gave Presidents Day off, while only 22 percent did so for Veterans Day. Follow LakshmiGandhi on Twitter @LakshmiGandhi.
More employers than ever are celebrating Martin Luther King Day
White House Photographic Office
