Long lines at polls force employers to cope, too

It’s not exactly the all-at-once rush of leaving the office early to take the kids trick-or-treating, but the presidential election is requiring employers to cope with some unexpected absences.

Georgia’s early voting was intended to draw more voters and give them a chance to avoid lines on Election Day. The idea has proven wildly popular —- creating its own long lines every day for the past few weeks. Some voters have experienced waits of four hours and more.

The early voting turnout has many employers hoping that might mean less workplace disruption Tuesday, when voters are legally due a two-hour period to place their vote.

“Based on the fact there’s been a lot of early voting, [Tuesday] is not a big concern,” said Ron DeFeo, Home Depot’s spokesman.

The company understands it has to be flexible about the long waits its workers have faced, he said. “What we’ve been asking is that each associate work out a time with their manager to vote if they wish to take time off during their scheduled work time.”

Still, Tuesday’s election might pose a problem for workers who have to adhere to time clocks.

One Atlanta law firm said it has been swamped with calls from employers with a variety of election-related concerns.

“We’ve had more calls than we’ve had for prior elections,” said Jennifer Sandberg, a partner at Fisher & Phillips. “We’re not getting a sense from employers that they’re looking at Tuesday as an opportunity to get rid of people. But we are seeing employers are wanting workers to get out and vote.”

Even so, Sandberg concedes that some workers could get shut out of the voting process on Tuesday.

“The law only requires that they get up to two hours. So in theory if a worker takes more than two hours, their job could likely not be there when they get back,” Sandberg said.

Georgia law requires employers to grant workers up to two hours for voting on Election Day. Employers can specify which hours workers can use, and an employer does not have to pay the worker for time taken to vote. The provision doesn’t apply to people whose work hours begin at least two hours after the polls open or end at least two hours before the polls close. The law does not mention early voting at all.

To avoid conflicts at the workplace, state officials say they are relying on employers for a combination of common sense and civic responsibility.

“Secretary [Karen] Handel is confident employers will work with employees,” said Matt Carrothers, a spokesman for the secretary of state’s office.

Coca-Cola Co. gave its employees information about the options of absentee voting and early voting, said spokesman Dana Bolden. “We encourage employees to vote and trust that they will use their best judgment as they decide when to vote.”

Since polls will be open for 12 hours Tuesday, many employees should have time to vote either before or after work, he said.

Planning is key, said Matt Gove, senior vice president at Cousins Properties. “We are not asking employees to vote early, but we do ask employees who take time off of work to vote to give their supervisor at least two days’ notice.”

Long waits to vote shouldn’t change the basic principles of democracy, said Atlanta Gas Light Co. spokesman Jack Holt.

“AGL employees are strongly encouraged to exercise their rights and privileges as Americans and to vote in the elections,” he said. “We ask managers and supervisors to be flexible, given some of the voting time issues out there.”

Staff writers Tammy Joyner, Jamie Gumbrecht, Aaron Shenin Gould, Joe Guy Collier, Margaret Newkirk, Kevin Duffy and Rachel Tobin Ramos contributed to this article.