Companies offer leave to “Junetin”

(Reuters) – A number of US companies, including JPMorgan Chase & Co and Nike Inc., have decided to offer their employees a day off in the United States under the new federal holiday “Junettin”.

President Joe Biden’s Thursday, June 19, or “Junetin” – abbreviated June and June 19 in English – is a federal holiday commemorating the legal end of black American slavery (June 19, 1865).

The holiday, which was already in place in some states, was brought to the federal level, echoing the “Black Lives Matter” movement that was born on May 25, 2020, following the assassination of African-American George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis.

Retailer Target Corp has announced that June 19 will be a non-operating day with Yelp Inc. and Nike.

Starbucks Corp chain stores will remain open, but employees who receive hourly pay will receive 1.5 times the regular pay, while employees will receive one day off.

JPMorgan employees can agree with their superiors to get pay day from July 1 to December 31, according to the bank’s chief executive ‘memo.

Bank of America Corp, Wells Fargo & Co and wealth manager UPSGS have followed suit.

(Niket Nishant in Bangalore and Matt Schaffham in New York; edited by Diana Mandick, Sophie Lloyd)