Kirstin Muller Quoted in Law360 on Importance of Employers Recognizing Juneteenth
Hirschfeld Kraemer’s Kirstin Muller was quoted in the June 7, 2022 edition of Law360 in an article entitled “Juneteenth Gives Cos. Chance To ‘Practice What They Preach’” (subscription required).
Juneteenth was signed into law by President Biden a year ago as a new federal holiday to commemorate June 19, 1865, the day when the Black residents of Texas finally learned that they were emancipated. This year, the Juneteenth federal holiday will be celebrated on Monday, June 20, 2022.
Muller told Law360: “Given what we have seen with some of the large national movements during the pandemic, especially Black Lives Matter, a lot of our clients are very interested in looking at ways to practice what they preach in terms of diversity, equity and inclusion, and so have chosen to shut down their offices or operate with skeleton crews if they can’t completely shut down on Juneteenth of this year.”
While private employers are not legally required to give employees time off, legal experts agree that employers should treat Juneteenth in the same manner as all other federal holidays.
Noting that companies who keep a skeleton crew working on federal holidays should stick to their usual policies for deciding who’s on the clock, Muller indicated that employers could also observe it by either allowing employees to take days off around Juneteenth or paying them a premium for the time they spend working that day, so-called “holiday pay.”
Read the full article here (Law360 subscription required).
Kirstin Muller is a partner in Hirschfeld Kraemer LLP’s Santa Monica office. You can reach her at (310) 255-0705 or kmuller@hkemploymentlaw.com.