Juneteenth is now an officially recognised holiday for the second year. While many federal and state employees will be off, many private-sector employees will be on the job.

Juneteenth commemorates the day Major General Gordon Granger told Texas that all enslaved persons had been freed on June 19, 1865. The federal government, the state of Ohio, and Cuyahoga County have all declared the day a holiday since last year, giving most government employees the day off.
Because June 19 this year comes on a Sunday, the holiday is commemorated on Monday, June 20.

According to a poll conducted by the Employer Resource Council, which has over 1,000 members, 10% of firms provide the day as a paid holiday this year. In comparison, 10% of people declare the day before Thanksgiving a holiday, and 22% declare Martin Luther King Jr. Day a holiday.

Cleveland.com polled Ohio’s top 25 firms to see how many employees would receive the day off. Many will be open as normal, despite the fact that a number of people did not react to the inquiries.

Many of Ohio’s major businesses are hospitals or in the healthcare profession, and they don’t take the day off, but they do create festivities around it. University Hospitals, for example, only takes six vacation days each year.

“As part of our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programmes, University Hospitals celebrates Juneteenth with our caregivers,” the hospital said in a statement.
Retailers such as Giant Eagle and Walmart provided similar responses. They’ll be open for the holidays and will have extra programming.

“As we prepare for the next Juneteenth holiday, we are happy to continue to create opportunities for our Team Members to learn about the event’s significance and the duty we all have to advocate for inclusion, equity, and diversity,” said Giant Eagle spokesperson Jannah Jablonowski.

“For instance, our most recent Standing Up Against Racism education series included a panel discussion on the nexus of food insecurity and race, as well as an overview of Giant Eagle’s efforts to improve food availability in Black neighbourhoods.” To better serve our communities, our retail stores and corporate headquarters will stay open on Juneteenth, as they do on many federal holidays.”

Both health and retail organisations emphasised the importance of “flexible time off,” stating that employees can take the day off if they so want.

Employees at several big organisations, such as Nationwide and Progressive, have been granted extra time to utilise as they see fit. In 2021, Progressive began providing employees two extra days off to “observe any holiday or personal occasion that was significant to them,” according to William.