Effective February 10, 2022, the Postal Service™ is revising the Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM), sections 434.41 and 518.1, to add the observance of Juneteenth (June 19) as a federal holiday.
U.S. President Joe Biden signed into law the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act on June 17, 2021, making June 19 a federal holiday. This newly observed holiday commemorates the freedom of enslaved African-Americans in the United States after the Civil War, and the Postal Service is fully supportive of annually recognizing this historic event.
Since the Postal Service is part of the nation’s critical infrastructure and USPS® customers rely on the Postal Service to deliver essential services, the Postal Service was unable to cease operations to observe Juneteenth during 2021. Beginning in 2022, the Postal Service will recognize the Juneteenth National Independence Day as a holiday eligible to full-time and part-time career employees. The observance will be reflected in the Employee and Labor Relations Manual and be subject to corresponding provisions in the ELM.
Although the Postal Service will not publish these revisions in the ELM until a future edition, the standards are effective immediately.