DENVER — A Denver brewery is giving its employees paid time off to vote.
Cerebral Brewing is offering two hours of paid time off for employees to do research and mark their ballots ahead of Election Day.
Owner Sean Buchan said they started the initiative two years ago, for the 2020 presidential election.
"Realizing that our employees live really active lives and have a lot going on but still want to take part in this, we just chose to give them the opportunity to vote essentially on the clock. Mark that you voted and we pay you up to two hours for that," he said. "It takes a while to find a nonpartisan website to really trust the information, go through each initiative, each judge, each everything on the ballot."
"I think it just goes back to we have a lot of aspirations as a staff and as a company for what we want this state to be and what we want this country to be, and voting is the best way for us to get there," he said.
Jim McElvenny has worked at Cerebral for two years. He said they're the first employer he's had that has given him this opportunity.
"To be able to inform your own opinion and get paid to do that, it’s pretty amazing," McElvenny said. "I think it’s really important to vote in these elections because it’s things that are going to affect your community and your city and your town, so it’s essential to vote and have a voice."
Since Colorado is a mail-in ballot state, Buchan said employees can use their paid time off anytime from now until Election Day to vote. While they offer two hours for each employee, if anyone needs more time they're willing to work with them.
He hopes other companies give their employees the same opportunity.
"Voting is one of the most important civic duties you can accomplish as a citizen and also one of the best ways to enact change, and it takes time to really go through and research candidates and research initiatives and really understand the ballot," Buchan said. "I think we can actually enact change if we just show up."
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