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It can be tricky for employers to make the call on whether or not to weigh in on politics at work, but there’s one issue that Vote.org hopes more HR leaders will champion this election year: civic participation.
Election-friendly workplaces. The voter registration non-profit recently launched a campaign asking companies to take action “in support of American voters,” including granting workers paid time off to vote. Research indicates that barriers such as childcare constraints or conflicting work schedules can impede voter turnout, and most states now require employers to give their employees time off to vote, whether paid or unpaid.
Vote.org launched a large campaign in 2020 encouraging employers to make election day a holiday, according to CEO Andrea Hailey. Through that campaign, the organization estimates 1.8 million employees were given PTO to vote. Ahead of the 2024 election, Vote.org is once again pushing for employers to give their workers time off to vote, with participation from companies including Linktree, Pinterest, and Snapchat.
Hailey said her organization sees the private sector playing an important role in encouraging voter turnout until all states pass legislation to make election day a holiday: “We believe corporations have a pretty powerful and important place in the public forum, and that they can play a pivotal role in expanding ballot access.”
A non-partisan issue. Vote.org recommends that employers be flexible on when workers can take PTO to vote, Hailey said, given some states allow for early voting. Ideally, Vote.org wants to see businesses give their workers the entire day off, as this may allow them to not only vote, but also serve as poll workers or give people rides to the polls.
Time off to vote isn’t the only benefit companies can consider to facilitate civic participation among their workforces—some employers have rolled out websites where employees can check their voter registration status, for example, while others have showcased employees who’ve volunteered as election workers, HR Brew previously reported.
In the wake of the 2020 election, as support for voter access laws fell along party lines, and some members of the Republican party embraced false theories that Joe Biden didn’t win the presidency, it could be tempting to view the act of voting as a partisan issue. Hailey said she hopes that doesn’t dissuade employers from offering benefits to encourage turnout.
“The second we start saying that democracy itself is partisan, we’re in a really scary place,” she said. “So I think that’s why it’s really important right now for leaders to make sure that they’re doing everything they can to protect everybody’s right to vote.”