The Administration recommends that the Commission discuss and provide direction on how to most appropriately incorporate and recognize Juneteenth Commemoration Day, a newly observed federal holiday, into our recognized holiday schedule for all city employees.

Juneteenth has long been an important holiday in the African American community, as a time for celebration and remembrance rather than mourning. On June 17, 2021, President Biden signed a bill to recognize Juneteenth, the holiday commemorating the day enslaved Black people in Texas learned they were free. This occurred more than two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. According to the bill, federal government employees will have the day off every year on June 19th, or should the date fall on a Saturday or Sunday, they will get the Friday or Monday, respectfully, closest to the Saturday or Sunday on which the date falls.

The City currently recognizes ten (10) national holidays, three (3) floating holidays and one (1) birthday holiday each year:

·         New Year’s Day – January 1

·         Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday – 3^rd Thursday in January

·         Presidents Day – 3^rd Monday in February

·         Memorial Day – Last Monday in May

·         Independence Day – July 4

·         Labor Day – 1^st Monday in September

·         Veterans Day – November 11

·         Thanksgiving Day – 4^th Thursday in November

·         Day after Thanksgiving – 4^th Friday in November

·         Christmas Day – December 25

For review and discussion are three options to add the Juneteenth Commemoration Day to the current holidays already recognized by the City.  Option 1 adds the Holiday to the list of other recognized federal holidays, Option 2 swaps a currently recognized holiday, like Presidents Day, and recognizes Juneteenth Commemoration Day instead, and Option 3 swaps out a Floating Holiday for the Juneteenth federal holiday.  An analysis of the financial impact of the options is included below which may have a financial impact to the upcoming budget and all subsequent years. 

Option 1: Adding the Juneteenth Commemoration Day as a new holiday to the existing list of holidays

If the City were to add the Juneteenth holiday as an eleventh observed holiday for all employees, including those covered by collective bargaining, the financial impact to the FY2022 budget is estimated to be an additional $265,000, which includes essential employees who will not get the day off (e.g. police, fire, sanitation, etc.) and receive time and a half or double time for working the holiday. An additional fiscal impact is the cost of lost productivity which is estimated at $673,000. Observing a new holiday would also provide employees, whose day off falls on Juneteenth Commemoration Day, to be given another day off. The estimated number of alternate holiday hours accrued per holiday is 2200 hours. 

While we do not anticipate any objection to this option, any change to benefits for collective bargaining unit employees requires bargaining.

Option 2: Swapping out a Floating Holiday for the Juneteenth Commemoration Day

Another option to consider is observing the new holiday by reducing the number of Floating Holidays currently provided to employees from three to two.  Adopting this option would yield a similar financial impact on the City with respect to overtime costs and alternate holiday hours accrued.

Exchanging a Floating Holiday for the Juneteenth Commemoration Day can be imposed on Unclassified employees but will require bargaining for Classified employees.

Option 3: Swapping out a current Holiday (like Presidents Day) for the Juneteenth Commemoration Day

Another option to consider is observing the new holiday by replacing a current holiday, like President’s Day, with the new Juneteenth Commemoration Day.  This option is cost neutral.

Exchanging a current Holiday for the Juneteenth Commemoration Day can be imposed on Unclassified employees but will require bargaining for Classified employees.  

The Human Resources Department has queried nine (9) local cities and counties in Florida to determine their handling of this new federal holiday. Below are the results of our survey