Labor Day is just around the corner, and Americans all across the country are preparing for a laidback, three-day weekend (myself included!).

While I know we all can’t wait to kick off our shoes and enjoy some fun in the sun next Monday, let’s first take a moment to remember the history behind the holiday.

About more than a three-day weekend, Labor Day is meant to celebrate the American labor movement and the contributions it has made the country and the strides it has made in terms of growth, worker protections and workforce development.

Though there is some disagreement about when the holiday first began, many historians agree the first Labor Day parade took place Sept. 5, 1882, when 10,000 workers took unpaid time off to march from City Hall to Union Square in New York City to protest unfair working conditions.

The protest was spurred by working conditions at the height of the industrial revolution, which included 12-hour workdays seven days a week, unsafe environments, lack of breaks and access to fresh air, and the exploitation of children and immigrants.

Congress would recognize Labor Day as a national holiday in 1894. From then on, Labor Day has been a celebration of both the ending of summer and the fight for proper working conditions.

Since then, our workforce has made great strides in advocating for itself, leading to better conditions, the invention of the weekend and paid overtime. However, we still have worker-protection gaps that need to be addressed at the federal level, such as mandated maternity/paternity leave, sick and vacation time and better protections against discrimination for LGBT individuals, women and members of ethnic and racial minorities.

There is still more work to do … but maybe that work can wait until Tuesday. Let’s all make the most of our Labor Day this year. Unplug from our phones, turn off the work email and take the time to truly enjoy our time off the clock — it’s probably what Labor Day’s founders would have wanted.