Sidebar #52 - Holidays in the Peace Corps

I’m writing this sidebar with Thanksgiving on my mind. A question one may have about Peace Corps service is whether or not we, as volunteers, are obligated to work on holidays. Peace Corps likes to say that volunteers are 24/7 - that we are always on the clock. However, particularly as a Youth Development volunteer, my work schedule follows the Costa Rican academic calendar. That means, by and large, I will have Costa Rican federal holidays off but not American holidays. Thus, I will work on Thanksgiving since it falls on a Thursday and is just another workday here in Costa Rica. Similarly, if days like the 4th of July and Labor day aren’t during weekends, I would be obligated to attend the schools on those days as well. On the other hand, Peace Corps staff receive US federal holidays off because they are considered federal employees. As “volunteers”, we are technically not employees of the government and do not receive those benefits. Fortunately, many Costa Rican and American holidays overlap because of cultural and religious similarities, (think Christmas, New Year’s, and Easter) so we end up with many American holidays off too.



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