With Election Day less than two months away, it’s incredibly important to us that our employees feel empowered to share their voices by voting. And as we said earlier this year, we’re doing more than ever to make sure all our employees have time to do so.
That’s why this year, for the first time, our stores won’t open until noon local time on Election Day, so our store employees have the time they need to cast a ballot in person, if they choose. Beyond that, we will make accommodations to ensure those who work in our supply chain locations, field offices, call centers and customers’ homes also get the time they need.
In addition, we’re also giving paid time off to employees who volunteer to work at the polls on Election Day to help address a nationwide shortage. Jurisdictions across the country are looking to recruit thousands of healthy, low-risk people in the community to help keep polling sites open and available for in-person voting, and now Best Buy employees can get paid for their time to help. Additionally, we will help educate interested employees on how to sign up to volunteer, what to expect and more.
We are proud to partner on these efforts with the Civic Alliance, a non-partisan coalition of businesses focused on strengthening our democracy by supporting safe, healthy and trusted elections. This year, we also joined the Time to Vote initiative, representing over 1,000 companies across industries to encourage more than 4 million employees to vote on Election Day.
For nearly two decades, we’ve encouraged our employees to vote through non-partisan efforts, including providing tools and resources so employees can register to vote, locate their polling place and learn about how to apply for and receive an absentee ballot, mail-in voting and early voting information, as well as information about the candidates and initiatives on their ballot. We also communicate frequently to employees about primary election dates, voter registration deadlines and general Election Day reminders.
We understand the importance of elections in our country, and we are proud to support our employees as they participate in the day, however they choose.