Companies Give Employees Time Off to Vote
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Here's your Money Briefing. I'm J.R. Whalen at The Wall Street Journal in New York. It's Super Tuesday, and voters in 14 states will be casting ballots in primary races today.
How are companies changing work schedules to help employees vote on Super Tuesday?
And while about 40 states allow early voting, others require that voters show up at the polls. That can have an impact on voter turnout, especially when people work long hours. But there's a new push among businesses to help employees.
I think companies certainly feel like they're being good corporate citizens here. They feel like this is helpful to democracy if everybody's able to vote. Companies have really taken pains to say that this is not a partisan effort.
That's Wall Street Journal reporter Chip Cutter. He'll explain how companies are encouraging people to get out and vote.
Are employers legally required to give time off to vote and how are they going beyond the law?
That's after the break.
It's our civic duty, but it can be hard to put aside time to vote, whether on Super Tuesday or Election Day in November. Some companies are giving their employees time off to vote, and Wall Street Journal reporter Chip Cutter is here with details. So, Chip, are companies bound by law to give employees time off to vote?
So many states do require the company's grant workers time off to vote, but a number of companies are going beyond what the law demands. Some are considering closing their entire operations on Election Day in order to make sure that people have time to vote. One company I spoke with is closing CHOP, and its CEO plans to drive workers to the polls. Others might work as election judges. The idea is to really make sure there aren't any obstacles that would get in the way of someone actually being able to vote.
So not just Election Day in November, but important election days throughout the year.
What concrete policies (store closures, meeting bans, flexible scheduling) are companies using to enable voting?
Well, that's right. And so on primary days, for example, like Super Tuesday, some employers are banning meetings at the start and end of the day to make sure that people can get out to the polls then. A number of them have kind of instituted flexible scheduling policies. I think a number of employers say they have a duty to make sure that they can get their workers to the polls. They see the low voter turnout numbers that are out there and think that businesses can do something about this. So what do the companies get out of this? I think companies certainly feel like they're being good corporate citizens here. They feel like this is helpful to democracy if everybody's able to vote. Companies have really taken pains to say that this is not a partisan effort, that they simply want to make sure that everybody has the ability to participate in democracy regardless of whatever candidate they might support.
But also these companies are going beyond helping to get people to the polls. There are some rallies involved during the year also?
Yeah. Some companies in the past, like Levi's, for example, have actually had voter registration drives in their stores. Levi's CEO told me that he's planning to bring in outside groups to help educate workers on different issues this year.
How are companies providing voter education and registration resources for employees?
That's become an area that some companies, other companies are considering too. And a number of companies also are kind of setting up these sort of one-stop shops on their internal websites. Basically, the idea would be that a worker could put their zip code in and then be able to see all the voter registration deadlines, links to different candidates and issues, really trying to make sure that workers are educated on kind of what's happening here and not just being able to vote.
You know, it seems the efforts by the companies could help to mitigate some of the excuses people make when they don't vote.
Absolutely. And if you look at the Census Bureau data over the past couple elections, the reasons why registered voters do not vote, it often comes down to not having the time, being too busy, or having other kind of scheduling constraints. And so that's why I think employers feel they do have such a role here. But it's often maybe not as easy as it seems to just grant workers time off. I spoke with the CEO of Warby Parker, the eyeglasses seller, and he told me that they're already working with workers in states across the country to figure out how long they waited to vote in the last election to try to get a sense for how to schedule them on Election Day.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:05–0:15
2
How are companies changing work schedules to help employees vote on Super Tuesday?
0:15–0:45
3
Are employers legally required to give time off to vote and how are they going beyond the law?
0:45–1:42
4
What concrete policies (store closures, meeting bans, flexible scheduling) are companies using to enable voting?
1:42–2:49
5
How are companies providing voter education and registration resources for employees?
2:49–3:59
6
What operational challenges do multi-state retailers face when scheduling time off to vote?
3:59–4:44
7
How do employers address workplace political divisions while promoting nonpartisan voting initiatives?
4:44–5:14
Speakers
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