The keyword “mlk” is trending now due to heightened interest surrounding Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which has gained prominence in the current political climate. Recent reports indicate that former President Donald Trump did not acknowledge the holiday, drawing attention to potential shifts in leadership attitudes toward civil rights and inclusivity. This absence of acknowledgment likely prompted many to search for more information about his actions and their implications.
Additionally, discussions regarding Trump’s DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) policies and their effects on Martin Luther King Jr. Day are also contributing to the surge in searches. The focus on DEI initiatives and how they are being perceived or altered under current political leadership has raised questions amongst the public about the meaning of the holiday in today’s context.
Furthermore, celebrations for Martin Luther King Jr. Day were marked by reflections on ongoing struggles for civil rights, amidst a politically tense backdrop. The combination of these elements—a lack of acknowledgment from a significant political figure, the implications of policy changes regarding DEI, and the atmosphere surrounding the day—has collectively driven up search interest related to “mlk,” as individuals seek to understand the complexities surrounding this year’s observance.
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Internet Reacts
G
Yeah it’s still a federal holiday. So schools, government jobs, banks, a lot of office jobs are closed. But a ton of private companies treat it like any other Monday, especially retail, healthcare, food service etc, so you’re not crazy for never getting it off.
S
I’m just now realising that federal holidays don’t mean anything to most people in the US. I assumed it was like public holidays in Ireland where employers have three options, give you a paid day off, pay you double for the days work or give you an additional day of paid leave to take.
P
there’s no legal obligation for **private** companies to honor **federal** holidays. Most companies do recognize the 6 major US holidays… new year’s day, memorial day, July 4th, labor day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas… but they also set their own policies for how those are handled in regards to compensation if you end up having to work one of those days. Most people not in retail or healthcare do expect to have those days off though.
C
In every job I’ve ever worked, they recognized 4 holidays. New years, July 4th, thanksgiving, Christmas
W
Most every job I have worked recognized at least Memorial Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. My current employer recognizes New Years, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Thanksgiving Friday, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day. Accommodations are made if an employee observes different holidays. For example they would be allowed to work on something on Good Friday and then take the paid holiday on one of their holy days. No one is allowed to work on Thanksgiving Friday and Christmas Eve. This is our owner’s “revenge” for his days working in retail where he was required to work those days.
P
Good owner actually trying to make the system better within their power.
M
retail is only Thanksgiving (sometimes only 1/2 that day) & Christmas (with Christmas eve sometimes being 1/2 day). ALSO, the day AFTER is always, *always* a 4 or 5 AM start! ☹️
S
My company gives me eight. MLK and Juneteenth are added on top of your list. When we were a start-up / before we got bought, we got *every* holiday off, plus the days after Thanksgiving and Christmas. The glory days of tech startups giving workers everything to attract the best talent died after the lockdowns though. 😭
O
They all “recognize” them, but they’re under no obligation to offer paid holidays. My husband works for a catholic hospital who doesn’t even offer paid holidays for Christmas. Most corporate office jobs don’t even close for most federal holidays. Neither of the manufacturers I worked for closed for the holidays with exception to Christmas. It’s to the point that I’d warn people coming from abroad that US federal holidays are meaningless unless you’re a banker or government employee. You may not even get holiday pay for working those days.
D
I work for a municipality. I get 8 hours of holiday pay for most federal holidays. If I happen to be on call during that holiday, I don’t get overtime until I “make up” that 8 hours of holiday. So as much as I enjoy having the holidays off, theyre kinda a pain in the ass for whoever draws the on call.
L
My dad used to work for a hearing aid distributor, and the owner refused to offer an extra day for Christmas, New Year’s, or July 4 if they fell on a Saturday. “You’re getting it off; what are you complaining about” and “I’m not legally obligated to give you additional time” were actual things he said. This is the same delightful specimen of humanity who made my dad drive 90 min to fire someone on Christmas Eve once. Nobody showed up to this guy’s funeral except for my dad and his wife.
K
That was pretty much the plot of *A Christmas Carol* except they didn’t even get Christmas off on a Saturday. And yeah, nobody showed up for his funeral either in the bad future.
L
I may have said that was a man who could stand to be visited by three ghosts, on numerous occasions. My dad kept trying to get me to do freelance computer consulting for them, and I kept refusing. “I just really want to help you out!” “Okay, but *I* would rather have less money, and zero obligation to be polite to Jim.”
L
It was very gracious of your dad to go.
J
At the casino, we didn’t get anything extra for working holidays, no extra pay, no nothing
L
I’ve never worked anywhere that didn’t observe Memorial Day and/or Labor Day.
M
Work retail and they’ll “recognize” them by requiring you to work because they have a big sale that day lmao
P
Damn shame, I get 11 paid holidays a year
S
Work in a hospital, and I’ll confirm that those are the big 6. On those days the hospital is still open with patients and ready for emergencies, but you’re not going to have your surgery, mri, or ultrasound scheduled for those days. All of the others are wide open.
D
Tbf. Healthcare is a different beast than retail, you don’t exactly get Christmas or a thanksgiving off either.
A
Also, some of those jobs aren’t the kind of places that you want closing. Hospitals are 365 days a year.
7
They are but you typically don’t have scheduled surgeries at the weekend or on the “big 6” holidays – it is just emergency treatment.
D
I work in food service and they recognize chrismas and thats it 😭😭😭
A
The fact that Halloween isn’t on the list is what’s really wrong with this country.
A
We get that list, and now Juneteenth.
I
Not completely unusual, bank holidays mean nothing here in the UK either. It’s just convention. My employer just treats them like any other day and essentially just gives you 8 leave days instead – if you want bank holidays off you can use your annual leave, if not then you take those days off when you want. I prefer it that way tbh, rather than being forced to be off on certain days I can choose when I want to be off.
7
But thats the point. In the UK you get 28 days off minimum by law – which is typically 20 plus the 8 bank holidays. In the US there’s no laws around this and many jobs don’t get federal holidays or indeed some don’t even give vacation time. I have never had all the federal holidays off – the ones many people don’t get off unless they work for government or banks are MLK, Presidents Day, Juneteenth and Veterans Day.
H
Could you explain to USA reddit readers what bank holidays are. I’ve read about them and googled it, but to the average UK citizen, what are they? Especially what are Spring and Summer Bank Holidays which seem unattached to any religious holiday or national event.
I
They’re basically just public holidays that exist mostly by convention. They’re called bank holidays because banks were banned from processing most financial activities on those days. The idea was that as banks couldn’t process most of their activities, other businesses that depend on banking services wouldn’t be able to operate either, meaning that lots of people would get the day off making it a de-facto holiday for non-banking people too. Banks still close on those days, but these days almost all day-to-day banking services remain available. For the vast majority of people it’s either just another day at work or a day off, depending on if your employer closes for the day. It tends to be mainly office based jobs that get the day off. If you do get it off, some employers will count the day as being part of your annual leave (paid time off) allowance. Spring bank holidays used to be Whit Monday – the Monday after Pentecost. But then they changed it to just be the same Monday every year to stop it from moving every year. No-idea about the summer bank holiday though. It’s one of the four “original” bank holidays, created in 1871 (and moved to the last Monday in August, in 1971) but I have no idea how they chose it, because as you said it’s the only one of the four not linked to any religious/cultural event.
E
I don’t really get why you are being downvoted voted. My American husband was confused by British Bank holidays. He would ask what are they for. American holidays are tied to something like MLK, thanksgiving, 4th July, some are celebrating something or honouring a person or event. The Uk seems to have them just because. There is one at Easter, Christmas and a New year that make sense. But two random ones in May. I think they are something to do with skipping around a Maypole and a random one in August. If they are tied to something, it’s not super common knowledge and we don’t do a nationwide activity such as 4th July or Thanksgiving. Scotland and Northern Ireland scatter some extra holidays in too, that’s personal to them. But overall just longer weekends. Usually the pubs are full, people will attempt a bbq, and it’s an all round nice atmosphere. I
T
It’s usually religious days which have been forgotten. The US used to celebrate May Day and Whitsunday too—even enslaved people were given Whitsunday as a holiday.
S
It’s Labor Day and Memorial Day but in millimeters
D
Pay you double for the days you work for a federal holiday for a nonfederal/private job….doubled over in laughter as I’m getting ready for work this morning.
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C
Unions man. My plant has 18 paid holidays ( there’s a bunch of Eves and Days After included around the major ones), including today. And everybody starts with 2 weeks additional vacation, but that’s kind of always been my experience in jobs that have PTO, I don’t think I got less than 80 hours to start even in retail.
K
We have had a couple workers going on and on about starting a union for the last year or so now. Everyone’s waiting on one of them to start the process, but they can’t agree on which one to join.
B
It depends on where you work. Thanksgiving and Christmas everyone gets off except for essential services. But retail has been clawing its way in to being open those two days. For all the other federal holidays, if you work retail you will be working. If you work food service the restaurant will be open but it won’t be a “all hands on deck” situation. If you work an office job or a manufacturing there’s a chance you can have it as a paid holiday.
E
Have to admit that back in the day when I was in food service I tried to work days like Thanksgiving and Christmas all I could. Tips were through the roof. People felt sorry for you and I had no problem with that, lol!
L
It’s sweet of you to assume America has it’s shit together.
E
What are you talking about? For federal workers have many others that’s exactly how it works here.
C
Not mandatory in the US but my company is paying me double basically. I’m at work now and I’ll get paid 8hrs for being here plus another 8hrs on my check for the holiday. But if I took today off I would need to use a vacation day and lose the holiday pay.
R
Yea funny enough I work 2 jobs, my full time job is at a privately owned small company, while my part time job is at a public library. I’ve never in all my years of working ever gotten off on MLK, Presidents Day, or any other federal holidays at my regular job. However, at my part time job, which I’ve been working at for 10 years, we’ve always gotten those days off. I don’t get paid since I’m part time, but the full timers do. And I always think about how nice it must be to have those days off.
N
My company has the day as a holiday, and all the salary staff are off. The hourly staff are working today and they love it because they get 8 hrs of holiday pay, plus double time for each hour worked.
D
Oh, good heavens, no. The United States is the last bastion of overt capitalist exploitation! LOL…. Just kidding. Don’t kill me.
A
I need to work most Federal holidays, but my job has a pretty strong union, so I get paid double (or 2.5x if I need to work on Christmas day). There aren’t that many union jobs left in the US, though.
P
The private university I work at is closed.
T
A lot of schools around here are not totally closed. Kids don’t attend but teachers have inservice and such.
U
I still work, but I work at a restaraunt where I have to work every holiday.
T
I got out of the business and see my friends and family all if the time now. Get out. Get out now. Fuck the restaurant business. It will eat your soul.
U
I love it.
Additional Sources:
USA Today – Donald Trump doesn’t acknowledge Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Axios – Trump’s DEI crackdown is changing MLK Day
The Guardian – ‘The struggle continues’: MLK Day celebrated amid tense political climate
