Bank of America, Visa Join Campaign to Give Workers Time to Vote

(Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp. and Visa Inc. are among more than 700 companies that joined a coalition seeking to increase voters’ participation in the U.S. election this November.

The firms were among recent additions to the Time to Vote campaign, which was formed in 2018 by Levi Strauss & Co., Patagonia Inc. and PayPal Holdings Inc. By joining, companies promise to give employees access to and information about early voting or vote-by-mail options, offer paid time off on Election Day or make it a day with no meetings.

Visa, for its part, will double its paid time off policy on Election Day this year to four hours, the company said in a statement. Synchrony Financial, the country’s largest provider of in-store credit cards, will offer one hour of paid time off for employees to vote, and is giving resources to help workers register to vote and learn about who’s running for office in their area.

The U.S. trails most developed countries in voter turnout, according to data compiled by the Pew Research Center, which found that just 56% of people of voting age cast ballots in the last presidential election. One of the reasons people cite for not voting is that they’re too busy with life and work, according to the Time to Vote website.

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