Newsweek: Old Navy Will Pay Employees To Work At The Polls, Joining Corporate America In Encouraging Workers to Vote

Old Navy announced on Tuesday, which is also National Poll Worker Recruitment Day, that it will pay its employees to work at polling stations come Election Day. The fashion retailer will compensate associates with a day of pay, regardless if they are scheduled to work on November 3. …

Sylvia Albert, the director of voting and elections at Common Cause, a watchdog group, said that these initiatives have the greatest impact on increasing the number of poll workers when it extends to hourly workers.

“The reality is that white collar workers are generally not the ones most affected by these limitations. In terms of having the time to leave to go vote, white collar workers who work 9-to-5 in the office, with exceptions, are able to find the time to go vote,” Albert told Newsweek. “It’s those hourly wage earners who will lose hourly wage or are working multiple jobs who are unable to do so.”

“I’m not sure it will lead to higher voter turnout, but I’m hopeful it will lead to higher poll worker recruitment. That is a really good avenue where it could make a difference,” she added. …

However, Albert argues that these initiatives need to go beyond just allowing employees to have the option to partake in civic engagement—companies need to actively embolden their workers to participate.

“In addition to just talking the talk, I want to see these companies walk the walk,” she said. “I want supervisors to be told that they need to be encouraging this and that it can’t be a negative on somebody’s performance review. In fact, it should be a positive on their performance review.” …

Albert says the main issue big companies need to tackle is not getting their employees to vote but to work the polls.

“The reality is that the government has been unable to really secure poll workers on a national scale,” Albert said.

“People just don’t think about it. They go to vote and there’s the same person there that was there the last time they went to vote. But when you tell people, you being there can actually ensure that people in your community are able to vote a ballot that counts, that’s an amazing gift,” she added.

While there has been an increasing push to make Election Day a national holiday, Albert points out that it is not the end-all-be-all for a democracy. While it may be one step towards ending vote suppression, hourly workers would still need to clock in on holidays.

It will take a collective effort from citizens, companies and the government to encourage voters to shape the country’s future and Albert thinks that companies are a crucial player.

“Corporate America has a gigantic stage and a lot of power. They could have a really positive effect if they step up,” she said.