State Laws: Veterans Day Off

Employers in Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Oregon, and Tennessee may be required to provide eligible veterans with time off on Veterans Day. For additional information on each state’s law, click on the state’s name below.

Iowa
Iowa employers are required to provide holiday time off for employees who are veterans on Veterans Day, November 11, if the employee would normally be required to work that day, under a law signed by Governor Chet Culver on April 27, 2010. House File 2197 gives employers the discretion of providing the time off as either paid or unpaid. Employees wishing to take the day off must provide the employer with at least one month's prior written notice of his or her intent to take time off for Veteran's Day and must also provide the employer with a federal certificate of release or discharge from active duty, or similar federal document, for purposes of determining the employee's eligibility for the benefit.

Effective date: 4/27/10
Text of the measure
Iowa Code 91A.5A Holiday time off -- Veterans Day
Iowa Code Definition of Veteran


Massachusetts
On August 28, 2018, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed into law An Act Relative to Veterans Benefits, Rights, Appreciation, Validation and Enforcement (the "BRAVE Act"). The BRAVE Act went into effect on November 7, 2018. Among other things, the law changes the requirements for employers to grant leave to veterans on Veterans Day and Memorial Day.

Veterans Day: Employers must now grant leave to veterans, if requested, to observe Veterans Day, regardless of whether they participate in a Veterans Day celebration.

Exception: Employees are not required to grant leave for Veterans Day or Memorial Day for employees who "are essential and critical to the public health or safety and determined to be essential to the safety and security of such an employee's employer or the property of the employer."

Changes to the Law on Leave for Veterans
Hirsch Roberts Weinstein | Oct 2018

Effective date: 11/7/18
Text of the measure.


New Hampshire
In 2009, New Hampshire enacted a law that requires private employers to permit honorably discharged veterans of the United States armed forces to take the day off on Veterans Day, November 11 even when the employer does not recognize the holiday. The employee must follow employer's procedure for requesting time off in advance.

Effective date: 8/21/2009
Text of the measure


Oregon
Employers in Oregon must give employees who are veterans time off for Veterans Day under Senate Bill 1, signed into law by Gov. John Kitzhaber on April 4, 2013. Under the law, businesses must provide paid or unpaid time off for Veterans Day if the employee would otherwise be required to work on that day and the employee provides (a) at least three weeks' notice that he or she intends to take time off for Veterans Day and (b) documents showing that he or she is a veteran as defined by Oregon statute.

Effective date: 4/4/13
Text of the measure


Tennessee
Without much fanfare, Tennessee has a new employee rights law on the books providing veterans with the guaranteed right to take an unpaid day off from work on Veterans Day—Nov. 11. This new law was passed by the state legislature on April 7, 2022 and was signed into effect by Gov. Bill Lee on April 20. What steps should Tennessee employers take to prepare for this new legal obligation?
Tennessee Veterans Have New Employee Leave Rights
Fisher Phillips via SHRM | May 2022

Text of the measure.
Effective date: 4/20/22