It is your right and your responsibility to vote, and people across the spectrum seem to agree that this is a critical election for our nation. The pandemic has made voting more complicated than ever, and many factors have made voting more time-consuming than ever. With early voting now underway in almost every state, we asked a variety of companies of scale in our industry from around the country about their policies to provide employees paid time off to participate. In addition, some companies also told us about special policies for volunteering to work the polls — “for which there is a well-documented need this year,” as one large house put it.
At least a couple of publishers told us that with most people already working from home and controlling the hours that they work, they did not believe any specific policy on voting time was required, since employees already have a very flexible work day.
Along the way, we also learned that many states have specific legal requirements around time off to vote — and many others have no provisions at all. New York State law, for example, provides for up to 2 hours of paid time off but only if there is not “sufficient time to vote” based on an employee’s scheduled shift. (With polls open in New York from 6 AM to 9 PM, people whose scheduled day runs from 9 to 5 do not qualify under the law, but if your scheduled day runs 9 to 6, then you do qualify.) Right next door in Connecticut or New Jersey, however, there is no legal time off requirement. A number of websites, including this one, can guide you if you are unclear on your rights. The companies that we heard from generally expressed flexibility to ensure that everyone has time to vote, safely, so if you have any concerns, you should contact your supervisor in advance.
Here is what we learned so far, and we will happily expand this list if you write to us:
Election Day Off
These companies will be closed this year for Election Day, November 3, treating it as a paid holiday. (In many cases, this is a special policy for 2020 only, though at least some told us they were considering adding Election Day to their standing list of observed holidays.)
Hachette Book Group
Macmillan Learning
Macmillan Trade Publishers
Norton
Oxford University Press
Pearson US
Specific Time Off
These companies provide a specific number of hours of paid time off to accommodate voting:
Chronicle Books
Up to 2 hours off; if an employee needs more time they should just talk to HR or their manager
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3 hours off; and they encourage team members and managers to discuss plans as needed
Penguin Random House
Up to 3 hours off
Sourcebooks
Up to 2 hours off
The Experiment
2 hours off and more if warranted by long lines or other circumstances
Flexible Time Off
These companies stand ready “to accommodate employees in whatever way they choose to safely cast their vote”:
Abrams
They “are willing to make any necessary accommodations they might need to make that happen safely in the course of their ongoing work from home regime”
Amazon
“Employees that lack adequate time before or after their scheduled workday to vote, can request and be provided excused time off. The number of hours and pay provided to employees varies by state in line with local laws.”
HarperCollins
“Provides employees with flexibility as to when and how they work—including taking time to vote.”
Simon & Schuster
Employees “should take whatever time is necessary to exercise their right to vote”
Wiley
“Colleagues may take the time they need to vote without using their Paid Time Off”
Workman
“All employees are encouraged to take time off, at full pay, to vote”
One company, Andrews McMeel, reported to us that they “don’t have a corporate policy for PTO to allow employees to vote. It is at the manager’s discretion, or associates can use some of their regular PTO.”
Volunteer Day Off
In addition to the companies that have already scheduled Election Day as a full day off, these companies have specific accommodations for employees who want to volunteer as poll workers that day:
Chronicle Books (paid day off)
Penguin Random House (employees may use one of their two annual, paid volunteer days)
Simon & Schuster(paid day off; will not count this against time off)
The Experiment (paid day off)
Workman (paid day off)