While government workers typically have more paid holidays off than private industry workers, many county and city employees in the Mahoning Valley are granted more than the average.

The state of Ohio guarantees state, township and county employees 10 paid holidays off but allows other types of communities like cities to set their own holiday schedules.

Collective-bargaining unit contracts often decide how many and which holidays their employees don’t have to work and still get paid, or earn extra holiday pay if they do work.

Private industry employers do not have to offer paid holidays to their employees, but about 77 percent of employers do. Private industry workers have an average of eight paid holidays, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The state requires holiday pay or paid time off for state, county, township and school employees on federal holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day / Indigenous Peoples Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Read more in Monday’s Vindicator.