The City of New Bern has approved a thirteenth leave day for employees that can be used on Juneteenth or other days of the year.
Following a lengthy discussion during their April 11 meeting, the New Bern Board of Aldermen voted to add a thirteenth holiday to the city’s annual calendar. The motion, made by Alderman Bob Brinson, was “to institute a thirteenth holiday of eight hours of personal leave per calendar year.”
The board approved the motion by a 6-1 vote, with Mayor Jeffrey Odham being the lone no vote.
“We’re seeing that a lot of municipalities are going to a thirteenth holiday. So, I’m in support of going to a thirteenth holiday but I’ll state my preference for personal leave observance. That way employees can take it however they want,” Brinson explained.
Prior to the board’s vote, Odham noted that adding an additional holiday to the city’s calendar would come with a price tag of several hundred thousand dollars. He suggested that the board instead move to replace the scheduled Dec. 27 paid holiday for staff with the Juneteenth observance. No motion was made on Odham’s suggestion.
The request to officially add Juneteenth to the city’s holiday calendar was made by New Bern Juneteenth organizer Talina Massey during the board’s March 28 meeting. Though the board’s vote adds an extra leave day to the city’s calendar, it does not specify Juneteenth as a holiday for city staff.
According to information provided by City Manager Foster Hughes, the approximate cost to the city for one staff vacation day is $136,000. That figure does not include the cost of overtime for those employees that have to work on a holiday.
Hughes told the board, it would be a flex day, where employees would have to request a day off at least two weeks in advance and the department head would have to approve it like a vacation day.
Prior to voting, Aldermen Hazel Royal and Barbara Best asked for clarification on whether the day would be designated for a Juneteenth holiday. City Attorney M. Scott Davis said it was “an extra day that any city employee can take a personal observance day, it can be Juneteenth or your birthday.”
This year, Juneteenth will be observed on Monday, June 19. New Bern’s 2023 Juneteenth Festival is scheduled for Saturday, June 17.
Hughes said a separate request from Massey that the annual Juneteenth Festival be added as a city-sponsored event would be included on the agenda of the board’s April 25 meeting.
Juneteenth became a federal holiday in the U.S. in 2021. Though it has been recognized by the State of North Carolina since 2007 it is not currently a paid state holiday.
In 2022, N.C. Governor Roy Cooper signed an executive order providing eight hours of personal observance leave to employees of the state’s cabinet-level agencies who wish to celebrate Juneteenth.
According to a recent survey by the North Carolina League of Municipalities, 50 state cities have added Juneteenth as a paid holiday for employees. The majority of the cities added Juneteenth as a thirteenth holiday and provided a floating personal observance leave day.
For more information about New Bern’s Juneteenth celebration, visit juneteenthofnewbern.com.
By Todd Wetherington, co-editor. Send an email with questions or comments.