At This Massachusetts Company, 4/20 Is A Paid Holiday

FRAMINGHAM, MA — Every company has the unique ability to customize its paid holiday schedules. Sure, most stick to the typical federal and winter holidays, but they aren't prohibited from getting creative.

For Framingham-based cannabis company Temescal Wellness, that means allowing their Massachusetts dispensary employees an uncommon day off toward the end of April.

Maybe Temescal's industry has given it away, but the company is designating 4/20 as a paid holiday for employees, and they claim to be the first to do so.

The company said the decision was made so that their employees would be able to celebrate "cannabis's high holiday."

"4/20 is a day to show appreciation, love and respect for cannabis and its power to help amplify the health and happiness that people experience in their daily lives," said Sian Leininger, Director of Retail and Customer Engagement at Temescal Wellness, in a news release.

"For us, it’s a day to celebrate our employees, whose passion, knowledge and true dedication inspires their unparalleled service to our customers and our community all of the other days of the year."

Like many fixtures in the early days of the legal industry, Temescal officials aim to help remove the stigma around cannabis. They hope the paid holiday designation will be a step in that direction.

"One of our core company values is wellness - and that means the wellness of our customers, our community, and our entire team," said Leininger.

"While 4/20 is one of our most profitable days, we hope making it a paid holiday off for our team elevates it as a day for everyone to celebrate cannabis and the community around it."

Temescal has three dispensaries in Massachusetts, including Framingham, Hudson and Pittsfield. They also operate two production facilities — Worcester and North Adams — with a corporate office in Framingham.