What employers need to know about celebrating Juneteenth

Juneteenth may be one of the more recent federal holidays to make its way on to the corporate calendar, but many employers are still struggling with how to successfully and respectfully mark the celebratory day.    

In 2021, President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, officially recognizing Juneteenth — named for June 19th, a day that commemorates the  end of slavery in the U.S. — as a federal holiday. Organizations across industries have since embraced Juneteenth and added it to their DEI efforts, to varying levels of success. 

"It's definitely been a journey seeing the growth and adoption of Juneteenth," says Kendra Mack, vice president of DEIB at Kanarys, a technology company that works with organizations to create long-term change around DEI challenges. "It started with some companies not even being sure what it was, so that process of learning about it, understanding the significance of it, and then understanding how to observe that holiday has been interesting."

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Despite Black workers making up about 13% of the total U.S. workforce last year, according to the Census Bureau, a 2022 Mercer survey of 400 companies reported that only 33% offer Juneteenth as a paid holiday to their employees, though an additional 11% said they plan to offer the holiday to employees this year.

"It makes me feel seen," says Mack, who is Black. "It's a holiday that is really about freedom and coming together, and when companies embrace that it makes me feel like they care about my experience and they care about the people of my community."

Mack recently spoke with EBN and shared how employers can go about observing and celebrating Juneteenth to benefit their entire workforce. 

What are some of the simplest ways employers can begin implementing good practices when it comes to Juneteenth? 
Start off by just communicating the importance of the day and encouraging employees to seek out and learn about the history. If you're able to give employees the day off, share with them local Juneteenth events that are happening where they could go celebrate and learn more. While at the office, potentially doing lunch-and-learns or educational sessions where employees can volunteer to sit in to learn more about the holiday. You could run a "Did You Know?" campaign, whether it be internally or externally, where they communicate out different fun facts about the history behind Juneteenth just to get the whole company engaged. 

Pull in ERGs — not just the BIPOC ones — and have them share any stories about what the holiday means to them or conversations they've had with families. I've seen companies open up the floor to share stories and people saying things like, "I'm not a part of the black community or a minority community, but my daughter came home and she shared everything she learned about Juneteenth." Open up the door up to all your ERGs and the entire employee population in hopes that they can come together and commemorate the day.

How can employers support their BIPOC ERGs during Juneteenth?
I think that will depend on their existing relationship with their ERGs. Hopefully, companies already have a governance system with expectations that they've discussed. But I would make a point of consulting with the ERG, to get a pulse for what they're comfortable with and asking what ideas they might have, and then leaning in if there is need for a budget or i approval for a company wide event. Ultimately it's about allowing the ERG to kind of take the leap if they have that sort of agency and then provide any support that they would need in terms of resources.

How can companies continue to make changes around inclusivity even after the holiday has passed?
By understanding that DEIB is a journey and not an end goal. There's not any number of things that you can check off the list and be done. Your workforce will continue to grow and change and your consumer base will continue to grow and change, so have a strategic plan for questions like, "What are our goals? What are our values? Where do we want to focus year over year?" Use whatever data you can and continue to equip leaders with knowledge about interrupting unconscious bias, leading a diverse workforce and how to connect across differences. Equip them with those skills and different perspectives, to really help them better appreciate the diversity of their employees. 

How would you advise employers to celebrate Juneteenth without placing the burden on Black employees to educate their non-Black colleagues? 
It's up to organizations to take the initiative and be intentional about sharing resources, which means doing some initial research and encouraging employees to do the same by sending out a notice on how they can learn more about this on their own. Even just getting those conversations started without Black employees having to start them can definitely help. 

Provide EAP resources to the employee base that allows them to take time for themselves. Set reminders that say something like, "This is a historically significant holiday, and we want everyone to take care of themselves. If this was a heavy time for you, don't forget that we offer these wellness benefits." Encourage people to take the time that they need and engage in the conversation at the level that they're comfortable. Keep it simple and sincere. It's one of those holidays that can easily become performative and miss the mark. So focus on honoring the history and showing appreciation for your employees serving such a diverse consumer base.