Patagonia will give employees the day off as a paid holiday.



Election Day is a day off for U.S. employees at General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler, for both union and white-collar workers. The "Take Off Election Day" effort particularly among Silicon Valley companies, lists nearly 320 participating U.S. companies on its website, including Spotify and TaskRabbit. Hunter Walk, a partner at the venture capital firm Home Brew in San Francisco, has been behind the campaign.



Josh Wexler, CEO of RevCascade, a retail technology company with offices in New York and Los Angeles, decided to give all 14 of his employees a day off after seeing tweets from Walk about the issue.



"It really felt that this is an election that it is very important," said Wexler. "A lot of people can't vote because they have to go to work."



Patagonia has launched nonpartisan environmental campaigns for election seasons since 2004. The company's 2016 Vote Our Planet campaign focuses on educating citizens on using their votes to protect the nation's air, soil and water. By Election Day, Patagonia will have hosted almost 60 events across the U.S. this year.



Associated Press