Labor Day celebrates the efforts of the American workforce, in part, by giving much (but not all) of it the day off. So why would you want to spend your blissful labor-free time watching fictional people work?

The movies listed below demonstrate all the best (and worst) things about your real place of business — the camaraderie of people you might never have met if you didn’t toil in the same place and pulling together despite disagreements, personality differences and bosses from Hell.

The best part? They have to work, and we do not.

1) Office Space (1999): A gloriously crude examination of the absurdities of the modern office. Peter (Ron Livingston) is so fed up with the inanity of work that he stops caring about even looking like he cares, which of course comes off as genius. It’s also the movie that has, for nearly 30 years, inspired me to randomly mutter under my breath about Swingline staplers and the ratio of people to cake.

2) Empire Records (1995): Your classic tale of a ragtag group of crusading kids. This time they’re trying to save the indie record store that’s become their home — and family. Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney never had to navigate Rex Manning Day.

3) 9 to 5 (1980): Forty-four years after its release, it remains a shockingly prescient (and very funny) look at what women have to deal with just trying to make a living, like Dolly Parton sang. The sexual harassment and condescension are overbearing, but Dolly, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin go to extremes to bring their hideous boss (Dabney Coleman) down. Would any of this pass HR now? Nah. But the revenge is as sweet as the theme song.

4) Monster’s Inc.(2001): Your kid might not know why it’s funny for a group of hardhat-wearing, clock-punching monsters to be named Mike Wazowski and James P. “Sulley” Sullivan, but your grandpa who worked at Sparrow’s Point did. One of my favorite comfort rewatches.

5) Tombstone (1993): It might not seem obvious, but the most quotable Western ever is about two rival work factions. The Cowboys’ job is to wreak havoc in Tombstone, and the Earps ‘ job is to stop them. They’re your huckleberry.

6) M*A*S*H (1970): Robert Altman’s classic about doctors whose dark, cynical humor carries them through the horrors of war set the stage for every film and TV show with surgeons ruminating about life over a patient open on the operating table. If you’ve only seen the long-running CBS series — or even if you haven’t — this should be on your list.

7) Car Wash (1976): This star-studded comedy, which follows one day in the life of wise-cracking employees at an L.A. car wash, made me excited when I was a kid about getting a job one day. I assumed it was going to be just like the movie: hanging out, joking with my friends and wacky hijinks.

8) The Muppets (2011): It’s been suggested that Tina Fey’s “30 Rock” was just a human version of “The Muppet Show,” with a long-suffering entertainment professional trying to keep an assorted collection of talented-ish weirdos in control enough to get the show off the ground every week. Actor and writer Jason Segel revived that vibe with this cinematic love letter to Kermit, Miss Piggy and the gang.

9) The Paper (1994): This came out the year I started at the York Dispatch, about an hour from here, as a little baby reporter. Watching it again this summer reminds me how much it got right about old-school newsrooms. It’s the grind, the glibness and inappropriate behavior (that would definitely get you fired today), and how race, class and money can color how a community is covered. Do you want to be first, or do you want to get it right? That’s even more important now.

10) The Devil Wears Prada (2006): Yes, it’s about fashion. But I’ve always thought the Meryl Streep/Anne Hathaway comedy was a shiny HR video about workplace do’s and don’ts. Do learn the name of your would-be boss before you show up to the interview. Don’t act as if you’re better than the work. Do dress the part. Don’t waste your job perks on your stupid friends and boyfriend. Stuff like that.