NYS Voting Leave and Notice Requirement
New York State has amended its voting leave law, undoing the changes that were made in 2019. Under the current law, employers in New York State are required to provide employees who are registered voters with up to two (2) hours of paid time to vote on Election Day, if the employee does not have “sufficient time to vote.” An employee is considered to have “sufficient time to vote” if he or she has four (4) consecutive non-working hours in which to vote, either from the opening of the polls until the start of the employee’s shift, or from the end of the employee’s shift to the close of the polls. Employees who do not have sufficient time to vote are permitted to take off time that will, when added to his or her voting time outside his or her working hours, enable him or her to vote.
An employee who takes off time to vote must take such time at the beginning or end of the employee’s work shift, as designated by the employer, unless the employer and employee mutually agree to another time.
An employee who needs time off to vote must notify his or her employer not more than ten (10) and not less than two (2) working days before the day of the election that he or she requires time off to vote.
Employers must post notice of their employees’ right to voting leave. The poster must go up not fewer than ten (10) business days before Election Day. For employers whose business days are Monday through Friday, the posting date this year is October 20, 2020. The notice must be posted where it can be seen as employees come or go to their place of work and must be kept posted until the close of the polls on Election Day.
