every so often, lawmakers propose making election day a federal holiday in hopes of nudging more voters to the polls. this year, a handful of employers are taking matters into their own hands and declaring nov. 8 a day off work. payments provider square inc., digital media company thrillist media group and online mattress retailer casper sleep inc. are among employers giving workers the day off to vote. leaders say the paid holiday leaves workers no excuses for not voting, even if the company loses some business. <u+201c>it<u+2019>s hard to get out and vote,<u+201d> said neil parikh, the co-founder of casper, which will close its two retail stores and offices in the u.s., giving roughly 180 of its 200 global employees the day off. <u+201c>everything that you can do to make someone<u+2019>s life a little bit easier so they can contribute is worth it.<u+201d> mr. parikh said casper executives ran <u+201c>back-of-the-envelope numbers<u+201d> to estimate how much sales could drop without employees on hand to answer customer questions. normally, customers can access live help via text, phone and online chat seven days a week. the company will ask some engineers and customer-service representatives to be on call on nov. 8. a startup that identifies itself as a tech company, new york city-based casper considers the voting holiday a workplace perk, <u+201c>a natural next step<u+201d> after free meals and generous benefits, mr. parikh said. tuesday elections have been a fixture of american life since the 19th century. voting on monday would have required residents to ride their buggies to the polls on the sabbath, and wednesday was out because it was typically market day, according to betty koed, the senate historian. president obama has publicly backed the idea of holding elections on weekends or declaring election day a national holiday. vermont sen. bernie sanders has proposed a bill that would designate election day as a national <u+201c>democracy day<u+201d> for voting. venture capitalist hunter walk began posting to twitter this summer encouraging ceos to remind employees to vote; the tweet drew responses from some executives who replied they planned to give employees time off to head to the polls. mr. walk, a hillary clinton supporter, said that roughly 300 employers have said they are willing to make time for workers to cast their ballots. executives who are giving employees the entire day off say the move is a nonpartisan one. thrillist<u+2019>s decision to offer a paid day off for its 230 employees sends a message about its chief executive ben lerer <u+2019>s dedication to the democratic process, said marjorie ajero, vice president of human resources. <u+201c>the ceo takes this opportunity and being able to vote very seriously,<u+201d> she said. mr. lerer, the son of a prominent media executive and democratic fundraiser, plans to vote for mrs. clinton, according to a company spokeswoman. gregg pavone, the co-owner of mount pleasant, s.c.-based limelight custom sign co., gave his employees the day off to vote in 2012. shuttering the small business, where employees work seven days a week, is hard since he and his staff feel <u+201c>always behind<u+201d> on work as it is. still, mr. pavone plans to do so again this year. <u+201c>it made me feel good,<u+201d> he said. <u+201c>it made me feel like i was doing my part.<u+201d> a free day off on election day is comparatively rare, but most companies do allot workers some time to vote. more than half of hr professionals polled by the society for human resource management in may said they give employees paid time off to vote, while a third said they give unpaid time off. some do so because it is the law in many states. tory burch, the co-ceo of a retail business bearing her name, has been outspoken about employers giving workers time off to vote, writing in a wall street journal opinion piece that the country<u+2019>s voter turnout rates are <u+201c>embarrassing<u+201d> and <u+201c>dangerous.<u+201d> ms. burch<u+2019>s nearly 3,000 person firm will give its u.s. corporate employees four paid hours off, and store employees up to two paid hours off on nov. 8. ms. burch said just over half of the voting-age population turned out in 2012. advocates say election-day holidays would boost voter participation. data, however, suggest that isn<u+2019>t necessarily so. in a 2009 working paper, henry farber, a professor of economics at princeton university, found that state employees who had election day off didn<u+2019>t vote in greater numbers than those who still had to head to the office. <u+201c>they might say, <u+2018>gee, there might be something even better i can do that doesn<u+2019>t involve voting,<u+2019><u+201d> said prof. farber of those who had the time off. write to rachel feintzeig at rachel.feintzeig@wsj.com
should you get a day off on election day? some employers think so  - wsj
rachel feintzeig