Politics and elections that determine political outcomes have significant repercussions on the retail industry at multiple levels. The most obvious and more predictable is the legislative agenda espoused by the winning party on costs of doing business including tax rates, wages and labor rights and retail operations, in general.  However, most retailers avoid making political statements, for fear of alienating any segment of their customer base.  

However, many retailers are communicating their civic-minded views to customers in a non-partisan way by addressing an important issue – low voter turnout in elections.  Eliza Brooke in her Vox article, “Stores like Levi’s and North Face are giving their workers time to vote,” reports that several retailers have signed a  “Make Time to Vote” campaign letter to support their employees right to vote during the 2018 midterms. 

Why Levi’s Gives Its Employees Time to Vote

Make Time to Vote

There is no federal law in the US mandating that businesses give their employees time off to vote and rules differ across states.  For example Colorado employers must allow up to two hours of paid time off, while states like Delaware and Florida lack any laws requiring employers to give employees time off to vote.  Retailers supporting the initiative differ in time allowances for employees to vote, from flexible scheduling to two hours in most cases, to Patagonia giving the entire day off to their employees.

Unlike office employees with flexible work schedules, service-based employees in retail have to deal with scheduling conflicts or miss pay, the primary reason why people don’t make it out to the polls on Election Day.  By publicly encouraging their employees to vote, instead of merely communicating through internal channels, retailers are making a statement in support of democracy.