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Following the nine-day Eid-ul-Fitr vacation, government officials and employees in Bangladesh are set to enjoy another round of extended holidays in May, thanks to a sequence of public, executive, and weekly holidays.
As per a gazette notification from the Ministry of Public Administration, the upcoming holiday stretch begins on Thursday, May 1, marking International Workers’ Day. This will be followed by the weekend on Friday and Saturday, resulting in a three-day break for government staff.
Later in the month, another set of back-to-back holidays will arrive. Buddha Purnima, a public holiday, falls on Sunday, May 11. Since it follows the weekend, public servants will once again benefit from three consecutive days off.
These holidays come shortly after the exceptionally long Eid vacation. Initially set for five days, the Eid break was extended through an executive order that added April 3 to the list, turning it into a nine-day holiday from March 28 to April 5.
Bangladesh currently has approximately 1.5 million government employees. Under existing leave rules, casual leave cannot be used to bridge gaps between holidays—such days are counted as continuous leave. However, earned and optional leaves are available with prior approval.
Each employee is entitled to three days of optional leave per year, based on religious observance. These optional leaves can be clubbed with regular or executive holidays, provided official permission is granted in advance.
The Ministry has clarified that institutions governed by separate rules—such as Bangladesh Bank—or those providing emergency services, will determine their own holiday schedules in the public interest.
While these breaks offer a better work-life balance for many, they also raise concerns about the continuity of services in essential public sectors.
