- Insider Inc. recently announced that the company would take Juneteenth off. I crafted an out-of-office message to let my contacts know I wouldn’t be checking my email on Friday – and that also educated them on the holiday.
- Juneteenth recognizes the end of slavery in the US, when the Emancipation Proclamation reached Texas (which was then the most remote Confederate state) on June 19, 1865.
- I took my usual out-of-office template and added a link that explains what Juneteenth is, so that anyone who receives the message can learn about the historic event.
- Here’s what I wrote: Hi, thanks for your email! As with a growing number of companies across the country, Insider Inc. has closed today for Juneteenth. I encourage you to read the linked article on the holiday if you’d like to know why this decision was made, and why it’s so important to the company and its staff. I’ll be sure to respond to your message when I’m back in the office on Monday, 6/22.
- Big-name companies such as Twitter and Nike have declared Juneteenth a company holiday in recent weeks in response to protests over the killing of George Floyd and as corporate America faces backlash over racial inequality.
- Other organizations such as Microsoft have designated it a “day of listening, learning, and engagement,” and canceled meetings.
- 45 states recognize Juneteenth as a holiday, although it’s yet to become a federal holiday.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.