While many workers will have the day off on Friday, June 19 for the federal holiday established in 2021, Juneteenth, Indiana state workers will not.
Juneteenth is not listed on the Indiana State Personnel Department’s website as a holiday observed by the state. Other holidays, including Christmas Day, Columbus Day, Memorial Day Thanksgiving and many others are listed as holidays that “full-time, part-time and hourly employees occupying permanent positions” get a paid day off for.
Juneteenth is not recognized as a holiday for state employees in Indiana. According to PEW Research, only 33 states and the District of Columbia mark Juneteenth as a paid day off for most state government workers.
What is Juneteenth?
Juneteenth – also called Emancipation Day, Freedom Day or Jubilee Day – commemorates the day in 1865 when enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, received news that they were free, two years after Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.
Texas became the first U.S. state to recognize Juneteenth as a holiday in 1980. After more than a million signatures were collected to make it a federally-recognized holiday; President Joe Biden declared it so in 2021.
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What is closed on Juneteenth?
Like all federal holidays, banks, the post office and public libraries will not be open Juneteenth, but state government offices throughout Indiana will remain open.
When is Juneteenth?
Just like our other Independence Day, which is always celebrated on July 4, regardless of the day of the week, Juneteenth is celebrated on June 19 annually.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana state employees don’t have a paid day off for Juneteenth
Reporting by Katie Wiseman and Cheryl V. Jackson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Katie Wiseman and Cheryl V. Jackson, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
