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Come Back Later: REI to Open Stores 2 Hours Late to Allow Employees to Vote


Recently, REI announced that on Election Day (November 8th), it would open its stores two hours late to allow its workers time to vote.

This is a somewhat unusual development for a company with nearly 200 stores nationwide.  With that being said, with the company currently facing unionization efforts (with workers at a Berkeley, California location voting to unionize last month), this is one way the company is helping promote itself as an employee friendly workplace.

Will other large scale employers follow suit?  I would suspect we will start to see others follow suit but would be surprised if major big box retailers join.  With that being said, I expect pressure to ramp up on employers headed into Election Day as workers (and pro employee groups) push for more employers to open late (or close early) so that employees may have time to vote.


For additional information:  https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rei-to-give-every-employee-paid-time-off-to-vote-301633748.html

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