Patagonia Inc. is giving its US workforce the day off in late October to vote early, the first big employer to provide such a perk.
The outdoor retailer, which campaigned avidly against Donald Trump in 2020 and is a longtime supporter of environmental causes, has closed its stores, warehouses and offices on Election Day since 2016, but itâs switching to Oct. 29 this year to let its nearly 2,000 US workers vote early or volunteer, through a partnership with the League of Conservation Voters. Companies including Coca-Cola Co. and Salesforce Inc. have made Election Day a paid day off in previous elections, but voting-leave policies vary by employer and by state.
âFor Patagonia, voting is a priority because democratic participation creates the foundation for progress on every issue we care about,â said Corley Kenna, Patagoniaâs head of communications and policy, in a statement. Patagonia workers wonât get Election Day off, she added. Kenna said the switch to an earlier date gives employees more opportunities to volunteer as well.
Two years ago, Patagoniaâs founder Yvon Chouinard and his family transferred their ownership of the company, valued at about $3 billion, to a nonprofit and a trust to make sure all earnings go toward battling climate change. The environmental issues Patagonia cares about made the company a bête noire of Trump during his presidency.
Patagonia sued the Trump administration over public lands, battled his oil and gas allies, and tried to expel the bureaucrats the president appointed to lead federal agencies. Fighting Trump proved to be a boon for Patagonia, which set sales records in each of his first three years in office even as Trumpâs supporters vowed to ditch its Nano Puff jackets.
In the 2020 election, Patagonia management gave employees four days paid leave to serve as poll workers. While on the job, staff members were given time to write letters and text encouragements to get out and vote. The company plans to provide similar allowances this year.
There is no federal law that entitles workers time off to vote, but many states offer voting leave to employees, which might be paid or unpaid. Georgiaâs law, for example, says that employees who provide reasonable notice are entitled to two hours of leave to vote in any election, but thereâs no obligation to pay workers for that time. Most white-collar employers allow workers a few hoursâ off to vote while polls are open.
In 2020, MTV launched âVote Early Dayâ in an effort to get employers to allow workers to vote by absentee ballots or in person early in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Just under half of voters said they voted by absentee or mail-in ballot in 2020, according to Pew Research.
By Matthew Boyle
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