Many state employees get Juneteenth off, but state offices won't close

Many state employees have a new paid holiday this year due to Juneteenth, an annual observance of the end of slavery in the United States. But state agencies won’t be closed, and the public generally won’t notice a difference, according to the Office of State Human Resources.

That’s because the new Juneteenth holiday is a floating holiday—one state employees can take when they please, provided their supervisor signs off first. It’s not yet clear how many people will take off Monday in observance of the Sunday Juneteenth celebration, according to the Office of State Human Resources.

The new holiday policy isn’t in effect across state government, though. Gov. Roy Cooper said earlier this month that cabinet agency employees would get the new holiday, but that’s just part of the workforce.

North Carolina has quite a few agencies that don’t fall under the governor, including the University of North Carolina System and the various agencies that answer to other statewide elected officials, such as the state Department of Public Instruction.

Some of those offices also offer the floating holiday. The state’s human resources office provided this list:

The state Department of Labor added itself to the list this week, telling employees that the floating holiday represents “another benefit for our dedicated employees to help with retention and morale.”

The floating holiday, at agencies offering it, is meant to be taken on a day “of personal significance,” according to an executive order signed by Cooper.

Agencies that haven’t added the extra holiday include: the N.C. Department of the State Treasurer, the Department of Insurance, the Department of Agriculture and the lieutenant governor’s office.

The courts system, which is a separate branch of government, also hasn’t added the holiday.

The federal government designated Juneteenth as a federal holiday last year, so federal offices, including post offices, generally will be closed Monday.