Over the past weekend, someone wrote in to Stand-In Central asking about whether Presidents’ Day (which was this past Monday in the United States) was a “SAG holiday.”

In replying, the email bounced, suggesting the writer inadvertently typed an incorrect email address.

Nevertheless, here is what Stand-In Central’s reply would likely have been.

— The Editor

A visitor to Stand-In Central wrote on Sunday, February 16, 2025, in advance of the Presidents’ Day holiday observed the following Monday in the United States:

Can you confirm that presidents day is a sag holiday? I heard that it
is no longer a sag holiday. It was switched with MLK apparently

Within minutes, Stand-In Central replied:

Under what SAG-AFTRA collective bargaining agreement are you working?  Holidays are negotiated between the Union and its signatory employers, so it depends on the contract whether today is a holiday or not.

Sadly, the reply bounced.

Here are some of the questions and answers related to questions about “SAG holidays” and — in particular — the questions raised by the visitor’s email.

“SAG Holidays”

“SAG Holidays” — or more accurately, “SAG-AFTRA holidays” — are best thought of not as holidays declared by SAG-AFTRA, but instead as holidays SAG-AFTRA negotiated with producers, opposite whom the Union negotiated collective bargaining agreements — otherwise known as “CBAs” or more simply “contracts.”

The key point to remember is that a so-called “SAG-AFTRA holiday” is something contractual, and whether or not a certain day is a holiday depends on the contract under which you are working.

Why Stand-Ins Care about “SAG-AFTRA Holidays”

Stand-ins tend to care about whether a certain day is a “SAG-AFTRA holiday.”

This is usually because if working on a holiday, a stand-in typically is entitled to a higher rate of pay for the day’s work.

Not All SAG-AFTRA Contracts Have the Same Holidays

It is very important to note that not all SAG-AFTRA CBAs have the same holidays.

Many stand-ins (arguably most)  work under the Theatrical Agreement or Television Agreement CBAs, which have the same holidays.

However, the holidays under a different television contract known as the Network Television Code or “Netcode” are different than those under the Theatrical and Television Agreements — at least for some dates.

In other words, holidays under the Theatrical and Television Agreements are not necessarily holidays under the Netcode.

Not All SAG-AFTRA Contracts Provide the Same Perks for Working on a “SAG-AFTRA Holiday”

Although many stand-ins are familiar with receiving double time when working on a so-called “SAG-AFTRA holiday,” this amount is negotiated in the particular contract under which the stand-in is working.

The pay amount for contractual holiday work, again, depends on what the Union negotiated in the particular contract under which the stand-in is working on the contractual holiday.

So-Called “SAG-AFTRA Holidays” Are Different from Holidays When SAG-AFTRA Offices Are Closed

Furthermore, these contractual “SAG-AFTRA holidays” are different from holidays SAG-AFTRA’s offices take for their employees.

In other words, SAG-AFTRA’s offices may close for certain holidays, but those holidays are not necessarily also holidays SAG-AFTRA negotiated with producers in their collective bargaining agreements.

You might find yourself working on a federal holiday, and SAG-AFTRA’s offices may be closed for that holiday, but you may also find that that holiday is not a holiday under the CBA.

Different Unions May Have Different Contractual Holidays

Another consideration is that different unions that work on a job on which you are standing in may have negotiated different holidays than SAG-AFTRA did.

For example, Veterans Day is not a holiday under SAG-AFTRA’s major contracts, but other unions may have negotiated the day as a holiday for its unit members.

For this reason, some productions may go dark for those days in order to save money.

Or, some employees on a production may be getting holiday pay when working on a certain holiday, while SAG-AFTRA stand-ins may not be getting holiday pay because it is not a holiday under that job’s SAG-AFTRA CBA.

Hearsay Issues

Lastly, given all of the above, it is not uncommon to hear someone incorrectly state what is or is not a “SAG holiday” and spread wrong or misleading information.

Whether or not a certain date is or is not a “SAG holiday” ultimately depends on contracts the Union negotiated, not what someone says is the case.

Still, keep in mind that SAG-AFTRA jobs tend to have basic contracts, the “memoranda of agreement” issued years later that add to or change the basic agreement — meaning deferring to the Union for questions about whether a certain day counts as a “SAG-AFTRA holiday” is best answered by the Union itself.

Returning to the Question

Returning to the visitor’s question:

Can you confirm that presidents day is a sag holiday? I heard that it
is no longer a sag holiday. It was switched with MLK apparently

The answer of whether Presidents’ Day is a so-called “SAG-AFTRA holiday” depends on the SAG-AFTRA contract under which the stand-in is working.

As for Presidents Day being “no longer a sag holiday,” that does not appear to be the case under any major SAG-AFTRA CBAs, so that seems to be a false rumor.

As for Presidents’ Day being “switched” with Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday, not only does that not appear to be “apparent,” but also it appears to be a false rumor.

Let’s analyze the contractual holidays under SAG-AFTRA’s contracts.

The Theatrical Agreement and the Television Agreement

First, under the Theatrical Agreement and Television Agreement, Presidents’ Day is — and remains as of the date of this post — a SAG-AFTRA holiday.

For the Los Angeles Zone, Schedule X, Part I, Section 24(c)(1), spells out the following holidays as of 2014 (emphasis added):

New Year’s Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas Day shall be recognized as holidays. If any of the above holidays falls on a Saturday, the preceding Friday shall be considered the holiday and if a holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be considered the holiday, except that on overnight location, Saturday holidays will be recognized on Saturday.

For the New York Zone, Schedule X, Part II, Section 25(C)(1), spells out the following holidays as of 2014 (emphasis added):

New Year’s Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, the day after Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day shall be recognized holidays. If any of the above holidays falls on a Saturday, the preceding Friday shall be considered the holiday and if a holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be considered the holiday, except that on distant location, Saturday holidays will be recognized on Saturday.

In 2023, SAG-AFTRA negotiated with producers under these CBAs to add Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday to its list of holidays. The contract language, found at Paragraph 17 in the 2023 Memorandum of Agreement, states:

Amend all Schedules in the Codified Basic Agreement [aka the Theatrical Agreement] and the Television Agreement to include Martin Luther King, Jr. ‘s Birthday and Juneteenth as contractual holidays, effective January 1, 2024.

Notice that Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday did not replace Presidents’ Day, so there was no switch of holidays, apparent or otherwise.

So, if you worked on Presidents’ Day in 2025, and you were working under the Theatrical Agreement or Television Agreement, you were working on a so-called “SAG-AFTRA holiday.”

The Netcode

Second, the Netcode — which covers a lot of other SAG-AFTRA TV jobs but lesser-known by many stand-ins — has different holidays than the Theatrical Agreement and Television Agreement.

Under Paragraph 38.B of the Netcode, it states with respect to its holidays:

Any serial performer who works on Christmas Day (December 25), Thanksgiving Day, New Year’s Day (January 1), or the fourth holiday as determined below shall be paid, in addition to any other compensation due the performer for such day’s work, a further payment equal to the applicable minimum program fee set forth above in this Code. No later than December 15 of every year, each serial Producer shall designate a fourth holiday for the following year from the following list: Martin Luther King’s Birthday, Memorial Day, (fourth Monday in May), July 4, Labor Day, Friday after Thanksgiving Day.

Note that Presidents’ Day is not in the list or holidays or of possible fourth holidays. So, working on Presidents’ Day under the Netcode is not a so-called “SAG-AFTRA holiday.”

Other SAG-AFTRA Contracts

You may start to get the point that whether or not a holiday, federal or otherwise, is a “SAG-AFTRA holiday” depends on the contract under which you are working.

Holiday pay, thus, is not determined so much by the calendar or whether SAG-AFTRA’s offices are closed, but by the contract under which you are working.

If you are working under the SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract, the Corporate/Educational Contract, or some other contract where a production may hire stand-ins, open that contract from SAG-AFTRA’s website and do a search for “holidays” in that document. Read what is listed (if anything) about what counts as a holiday when working under that contract.

Then, look to see if any “perks” come with working on those contractual holidays, such as higher pay.

If you can’t figure out holidays under that contract, contact SAG-AFTRA.

Conclusion

Working on a holiday can be a lucrative experience for stand-ins. Then again, it could be just a regular day of pay. It all depends on what SAG-AFTRA negotiated were holidays in the contract under which you are working.

Have you stood in on Presidents’ Day? What was your experience figuring out whether you were to be paid holiday pay? Share your experiences in the comments box below!