Check Your Local Law, You May be Required to Provide Paid Time-off to Vote

At least in 31 states of the country, providing time-off to employees to vote is mandatory, and in states like Texas, failing to do so is a demeanor. There are also other applicable local laws that may require employers in some states to allow workers time-off to serve on election duty or to hold elected office.

However, it seems, the mandatory two-to-three hours of voting time to be provided to workers is known by most, but that the hours of leave for voting has to be “paid” is not known by many, and fewer know that in their states, it may be a demeanor. Also, though workplace convention usually ensures employees leaving to cast their vote usually inform their employer, in many states, such notice is not mandatory, while in others it is.

So employers need to plan beforehand, because, as they pointed out on chron.com “in this world of 12-hour shifts and 9/80 schedules, complying with state election law can get complicated.” (http://www.chron.com/business/sixel/article/Sixel-Time-off-to-vote-comes-with-job-3998254.php)

It is advisable to check things with your lawyer or in-house counsel as the laws related to leave for casting votes can vary widely from state to state. In Texas, as the Houston Chronicle points out, even giving employees longer lunchtime to vote early does not relieve an employer of the obligation of providing two consecutive hours off on Election Day.

In many states, an employee is not required to provide reasonable notice in advance to the employer. In Alaska, employees may take as much time off as needed to vote unless the polls are open for two consecutive hours before or after the employee's shift, and there is no requirement to notify the employer.

Though under normal circumstances, employees rarely take advantage of such laws but properly notify employers despite there being no legal requirement, what employers, and employees are often unaware of, is that for the hours of leave for voting an employee cannot be docked their regular pay if the hours fall within their regular workday. This would happen in cases where the employee is working a shift, suppose from 6-6, where getting two consecutive hours off outside the workday is impossible to attend the 7-7 voting time window.

In many states the window for taking leave is for three hours. For example, in Arizona, where the employee needs to make a formal request prior to Election day, the employee may take leave if there are less than three consecutive hours between the opening of the polls and the beginning or end of the workday shift of the employee. In states like California, the employee taking leave to vote must inform the employer at least two days prior to taking the leave. However, in California, the employer also needs to post a notice of employee rights at least ten days before Election Day.

So, it's good for employers not only to ensure that employees can vote, but also to ensure that they themselves remain on the right side of law.