A new paid holiday: Some South Florida workers get a day off for Juneteenth

Some South Florida workers on Monday will get a paid day off for the first time in honor of Juneteenth, a new federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

President Biden last year signed a law recognizing June 19 as Juneteenth, recalling the day in 1865 that enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, were told the Union had won the Civil War and they were free. The holiday, observed on June 20 this year, means federal employees will get paid for their time off. But states, counties and cities are taking an assortment of approaches as they figure out how to incorporate the holiday into the work calendar.

In South Florida, some employers have not waited for governments to take the lead. Some of the companies have thousands of workers, others just a handful. Some have expansive employee networks that urged them to offer the day. At smaller offices, money is tight and paid vacation time means no business is coming in, but employers decided a day off is a way to show respect for the Black community.

“As a small organization, paid days off are difficult. But we wanted to make a statement,” said Alex Saiz, director of legal services at the Florida Justice Center, a nonprofit legal aid organization in Oakland Park that has five employees. “We represent clients in the justice system, so we try to be very deliberate in our actions. We wanted to show a commitment to this cause.”

Misfits Gaming Group in Boca Raton, an e-sports and entertainment company, is also giving a paid holiday to its 50 employees, while the Arts Garage in Delray Beach, which has 18 workers, has been granting the day off since 2018.

“We also offer Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday off, and they are no different in my mind,” said Marjorie Waldo, Arts Garage’s chief executive officer. “For us, this is not new. We’re working hard to be an equitable organization. I talk about it to everyone I hire.”

At some offices, the day off is less ideological than a matter of consistency.

“We have a list of national holidays,” said Lynn Van Lenten, program director at the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce. “If it’s a national holiday, we’re doing it.”

Also getting the day off: Comcast employees, totaling more than 2,000 in South Florida.

Mindy Kramer, vice president of public relations for Comcast’s Florida region, said adding the holiday to the calendar was a logical progression after enthusiastic employee responses to past Juneteenth events. Sponsored by the company’s Black Employee Network, these events included a talk last year by a Smithsonian historian about the 1921 Tulsa race massacre.

Kramer said Comcast hosted a curator Wednesday from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History & Culture, and a panel of Comcast executives discussed “what Juneteenth means to them” as part of the series. The company has also been celebrating Pride month to honor the LGBTQ community, and next week former tennis star and gender equality advocate Billie Jean King will lead a discussion on social justice.

The company sees these events as a way to maintain a diverse work force and attract new employees, she said.

“These moments and our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion are essential to our business, and we’re committed to achieving a workplace that reflects the world around us,” Kramer said. “We know that a diverse, equitable and inclusive company is a more innovative and successful one.”

When it comes to adding a holiday to the office calendar, it’s mostly up to the employer, said Donna Ballman, a Cooper City labor attorney. At a non-unionized company, employers can add or subtract paid holidays unless there is a written contract, she said. In a unionized workplace, the owner must negotiate with the union for any changes, including paid holidays.

Ballman, who is closing her office on Monday, said workers who want their employer to make Juneteenth a paid day off should sign a letter explaining why and then have representatives present it to the boss.

“There’s no guarantee or requirement that private employers honor federal holidays,” she said. Many don’t recognize Presidents Day, she said.

“For a change next year, now is the time to start,” Ballman said.

At the government level, a bill to make the day a holiday for Florida state employees died in a Legislative committee earlier this year. Banks and scattered municipal buildings will be closed, including the Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade court systems, as well as county offices and libraries in Miami-Dade and in the city of Deerfield Beach.

Broward commissioners last year decided not to make Juneteenth a paid holiday for their employees, but plan to reconsider that decision this August for 2023 after a proposal from County Commissioner Jared Moskowitz.

Many government officials and business owners are still unfamiliar with the holiday, said Patty Archer, president of the Miramar Pembroke Pines Regional Chamber of Commerce.

“There seems to be some general lack of awareness that it’s a federal bank holiday, and for others it’s also lack of awareness of the meaning or significance of Juneteenth,” Archer said. “Our chamber will be leading by example and closing our offices in observance of the holiday. We’ll be sending communications to that effect to help improve the awareness and encourage other businesses to do so if possible, or to plan for the observance next year.”

Staff Writer Lisa J. Huriash contributed to this report.