President Donald Trump signed an executive order giving most federal employees an extra day off on Christmas Eve. The order does not declare the day a federal holiday but arguably it is a federal holiday as the government will be closed.
Our contract does not count federal holidays in due diligence and other time sensitive matters. Therefore, it is our opinion that Christmas Eve should not be counted as a business day. However, if you have a contract pending in which due diligence or other matters are covered by the counting of business days, we recommend that you be proactive and notify the other party that Christmas Eve will not be counted in business days. Don’t wait for this to become an issue.
Here is the executive order:
htps://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-providing-closing-executive-departments-agencies-federal-government-december-24-2018/
Banks are not part of the federal government. While most banks follow what the federal government does in terms of holidays, they are not required to do so. Thus banks can be opened on Christmas Eve. Since banking laws require the banks not to be closed more than 3 consecutive days, the banks will be open on Christmas Eve.