(NEXSTAR) — Your late Christmas gift may be delivered even later this year.
Christmas falls on a Sunday this year, which means any day-of regular mail deliveries or last-minute trips to the post office are out of the question – the United States Postal Service observes every Sunday as a day off.
But since the holiday falls on a Sunday, the United States Postal Service is also taking the Monday after, Dec. 26, as a day off. That means regular mail won’t be delivered Monday and post offices will be closed. Only Priority Mail Express mail will be delivered “in limited locations,” the USPS says.
“If a holiday falls on a Sunday, for most USPS employees, the following Monday will be treated as a holiday for pay and leave purposes,” the agency explains. If a holiday happens to fall on a Saturday, then most employees will get the day before (Friday) off.
Christmas Eve, which falls on Saturday this year, isn’t a holiday observed by the post office, so regular mail will be delivered. That being said, local post offices may be operating limited hours. Mail at blue collection boxes may also be picked up earlier, so the USPS suggests dropping off any mail before noon.
The USPS posts its full list of observed holidays on its website. During a normal week, when there are no holidays, mail is delivered Monday through Saturday.