More than 750 companies across the country have announced Election Day plans giving employees paid time off for voting or volunteering at a polling center.
In a year marked by the coronavirus pandemic, a recession, and a resurgence in the fight for equal rights, the election is expected to break records for voter participation. In what many see as the most important election in this country’s history, many companies are encouraging their employees to vote, either by paying them or allowing them to volunteer in the election process.
Salesforce, a cloud-based software company, has given its employees Election Day off and is encouraging employees to volunteer for the election. CEO Marc Benioff made the announcement on Twitter last month.
“The best policy is not time-bound but will take into account the unique challenges facing voters this election cycle. Tell your CEO to give Election Day off to vote,” Benioff wrote.
Twitter announced in June that employees around the world will have Election Day off in their country of residence moving forward.
“Given the importance of voting, going forward all national election voting days that take place on a weekday will be a paid day off. Since the U.S. presidential election falls on a work day (November 3), we will plan to close all U.S. offices on that day,” the company told employees in a memo, according to CNBC.
“For all other elections, if you do not have enough time outside of working hours to vote or your country doesn’t already have a process in place to address this, you should take the time you need to do so and you will be compensated for the time off,” the memo said.
Nike announced in August it will offer employees a range of options to give them enough time to vote on Election Day, including paid time off on Election Day, making Election Day a day without meetings or providing resources for mail-in ballots and early voting.
Uber is giving employees Election Day off, providing transportation to polling places and is helping voters register as part of its “Get Out The Vote Effort.
“As we look ahead to this year’s election, we are committed to doing our part to make sure every citizen has access to vote,” Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi in a statement. “We hope that by giving people the ability to easily register to vote, request an absentee ballot and get to the polls via the Uber and Uber Eats apps, independent workers — and everyone who uses our platform — will have a stronger voice in our democracy.
“And in addition to providing resources on the Uber and Uber Eats platforms to help individuals register to vote and get to the polls, we are proud to announce that we are also giving employees the day off, feeding people in line to vote, and looking into other ways to unite the communities we serve on Election Day,” Khosrowshahi added.
Other companies who’ve announced voter friendly policies for Election Day include Blue Apron, Etsy, Electronic Arts, Patagonia, Lyft, Kayak, Burton, Nextdoor, Honest Tea, Shutterstock and many others. The full list can be seen here.
