Amazon Employees Petitioned for Paid Time Off to Vote

Amazon.com workers are signing an internal petition asking the company to give them paid time off to vote in the United States election, CNBC reported. The petition requests Amazon provide its entire U.S. workforce with paid time off to vote on or before election day. According to CNBC, more than 4,000 Amazon employees have signed the petition, and it was submitted via the company's internal ticketing system. It was organized by the company's employee advocacy group, Amazon Employees for Climate Justice.

Through the petition, Amazon employees also expressed concern that the COVID-19 pandemic will create more challenges for employees balancing the need to vote and report to work, since lines are expected to be longer at polling sites and there's confusion around where and how to vote in some states.

Currently, Amazon lets employees ask off for time individually for those who don't have the ability to vote before or after work.

Total Retail's Take: This is far from the first time Amazon's employees have been disappointed with the company's policies. The online retailer's employee advocacy group has recently been voicing support for warehouse workers who felt they weren't protected during the coronavirus pandemic. Given the potential complexity of voting in person this year, many companies have changed their normal voting policies. For example, several U.S. companies have given their employees paid time off to vote, including Facebook, Uber, Apple, and Starbucks. It will be interesting to see if Amazon follows suit, especially if public pressure intensifies.