Veterans Day may no longer be a holiday for non-veteran county employees

Employees of Jasper County who are also veterans may be the only workers who can get that paid time off as a holiday starting in 2024. This newly proposed rule would not apply to non-veterans who want to use it as a holiday and take a day off. The board of supervisors is expected to approve this policy at its next meeting.

The proposed 2024 holiday schedule was presented at the Oct. 10 supervisors meeting by human resources director Dennis Simon. Supervisor Brandon Talsma said he would personally like to remove Veterans Day and replace it with another holiday. As a veteran himself, he felt it should be a day for veterans.

“I think it’s diluted when just everybody’s allowed to have it and when we give it to everybody paid off,” Talsma said. “I think it should be just veterans having that day paid off. So I would actually like to make a suggestion to replace the Veterans Day with another holiday. Thoughts?”

Supervisors Denny Stevenson and Doug Cupples have no problem with the proposal, with the latter suggesting Martin Luther King Day or Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples’ Day might work as replacement holidays for non-veterans. Simon said in the past there were discussions about including Good Friday.

“I know back, I think it was 2016, when we were doing union negotiations, there was discussions about actually adding that as a holiday. Then the union decided we wanted other stuff and never even asked for it,” Simon said of Good Friday, which seemed to be well-received by Talsma, Cupples and Stevenson.

Feedback from other elected officials in the room seemed positive to the proposed change. Talsma reiterated that Veterans Day should be a day set aside for veterans to get the day paid off and to “take time hanging out with other veterans, family members, whatever they chose to do with that day.”

Talsma added, “I feel like they’ve earned that day off. And it should be specifically for veterans … If the veterans works for Jasper County, they would still get the day off. Which is how it works anywhere else … Federally, we have to give veterans a day off. Federally, we have to.”

Even state code requires employers to give each veteran employee holiday time off for Veterans Day. It is the employer’s discretion whether it is paid or unpaid.

From what Simon can recall, the law requires employers to give veterans the day off for Veterans Day if they ask for it. Since Jasper County would treat it like a holiday, employees would get paid for the time off. Simon said he can adjust the policy to comply with Talsma’s request.

“Any company, if you’re a veteran you automatically get it paid off or you can choose to work that day and you get one-and-a-half,” Talsma said. “…The only ones that are exempt are agriculture as far as I know. Even most (agriculture) companies have given veterans the option of working that day.”

Stevenson said most employees would probably like to have Good Friday off.

Simon said he would revise the holiday schedule and put it on next week’s agenda for approval. This would allow the supervisors and others to see the draft language of what would be proposed. Simon stressed that non-veteran employees would not be losing a holiday, but rather having it replaced.

Jasper County also observes New Year’s Day, President’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Holiday and the Christmas Holiday. The county attorney’s office follows the judicial holiday schedule and does not observe President’s Day, but it does observe Martin Luther King Day on Jan. 15.