It should be automatic and without need to ask for it for all employees (is it?), so you don't the have the phenomenon were you're considered a "bad employee" for going to vote.

A mandated downtime during which businesses wont be open (which some special shifts for businesses that can't close, like hospitals etc) would fix that.

Not everywhere, and there are a lot of exceptions. Paid time off is also not a requirement.

source: https://justworks.com/blog/can-i-leave-work-to-vote-check-yo...