Good Friday - Holiday or not?

[baglady]

When I was a little girl in Boston in the '60s, public schools did close on Good Friday. I don't think it was a state or even a city holiday ... it was probably just in response to popular demand (lots of Catholics in Boston). Spring vacation, however, was not tied to Easter. It was always the week of Patriots Day, a state holiday that used to be April 19 but was moved to the third Monday in April. The other New England states tended to take that week off as well.

Years later I taught at an Episcopal school that did schedule its spring break around Holy Week and Easter, and then at a nonsectarian private school that closed on Good Friday ... but also closed on Yom Kippur.

[WendyB]

In South Africa Good Friday and Easter Monday are Public Holidays. Which means all government institutions except emergency services are closed and by law anybody working on a public holiday must be paid double time same as if it were a Sunday.
So pretty much most business are closed, but retail and restaurants are open especially in malls

[Snooks]

I recently found out Good Friday isn't a holiday in Italy, which surprised me.

[GeauxTigers]

I work at a Catholic hospital - no scheduled cases in my department on Good Friday, but we do provide emergency coverage with the on-call crews.

When I worked in Boston, we had to work on Good Friday (Jewish hospital), but got two days off for Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah. (sp?) I wish that we had been closed on Patriots Day, as it was a royal pain to get out of the city - it seems that every street was barricaded off due to the marathon.

(The public schools here also close for Lundi Gras, Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday.)