Elon Musk announced Juneteenth is a holiday for Tesla and SpaceX employees in the middle of their shift, without allowing them paid time off

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Elon Musk announced Juneteenth is a holiday for Tesla and SpaceX employees in the middle of their shift, without allowing them paid time off
A man displays a shirt celebrating the freedom of enslaved Black people during the Juneteenth celebration in the Greenwood District on June 19, 2020 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images
  • Elon Musk tweeted that Juneteenth would be a company holiday at Tesla and SpaceX on Twitter on Friday, June 19.
  • Musk later tweeted that employees would need to use their own paid time off to commemorate the holiday.
  • An email about the day off was sent to employees just before 8 a.m. PST by the head of human resources Valerie Workman, a follow-up email said that the day would not be paid time off, according to BuzzFeed News reporter Ryan Mac.
  • By announcing the holiday on Friday before 8 a.m. PST, some employees only heard about it mid-shift SF Gate reported.
  • Juneteenth celebrates commemorates the end of slavery in the US. Though it's still not a federal holiday, many companies like Twitter and Nike have chose to honor the day by giving employees a paid day off.
  • Former Tesla employees have said the they faced racial harassment and discrimination on the job. In 2017, former Tesla factory workers filed separate lawsuits stating they were frequently called the N-word. Six Black and Hispanic employees said they were passed up for promotions to less-qualified white colleagues at the Tesla factory in Buffalo, New York in 2019 discrimination complaints.
  • Some Tesla employees had organized a Juneteenth rally against police brutality at 1 p.m. outside the factory in Fremont, California, per a Facebook post.
  • Business Insider contacted Tesla for additional comment.
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