Old Navy Will Pay Employees to Work Voting Polls on Election Day

I almost feel like there will be one of those catchy musical ads to accompany this announcement by Old Navy. They always have the best commercials.

The retailer announced this week that they will be paying their store employees for eight hours if they serve poll workers for the 2020 election. Old Navy, which is based in San Fransico and is owned by GAP, will also be giving employees 3 hours paid leave to vote as well on November 3rd.

The company has over 50,000 field employees across more than 1,000 stores, across the country including the location on Miller Road in Flint Township. The company is making the move to join the movement due to a shortage of poll workers leading up to the election. Most companies are allowing employees time off to cast their vote, but Old Navy decided to take it a step further.

"Every voice in this country matters and deserves to be heard at the polls, and if we at Old Navy can be even a small part of making that process more accessible to the communities we call home, we are on board," said Nancy Green, head of Old Navy.

Old Navy has joined forces with the Civic Alliance, a nonpartisan coalition of businesses, and Power the Polls in a national movement to recruit 250,000 new poll workers across the country. The goal of the movement is to "ensure polling sites stay open and operate efficiently across the country."

There is a real fear of a nationwide shortage of poll workers for this years election due to the fact that most poll workers are typically elderly and retired people. This year that particular age group are at increased risk of suffering from complications due to the novel coronavirus.