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Vote on Nov. 8! Paid Voting Leave in NY!

Voting Box

If you are a New York Worker, you may be entitled to paid voting leave on November 8.  In New York, if you don’t have four consecutive hours while the polls are open, then you are entitled to up to 2 hours of paid leave to go vote.

Polls are open from 6:00 am to 9:00 pm. Here’s how it works:

  1. If your shift begins before 10:00 am and ends after 5:00 pm, you don’t have four consecutive hours to get to the polls. That means you are entitled to up to two hours of paid leave to vote.
  2. You must give your employer 2-10 working days’ notice of your intention to take paid time off. “Working day” means a day that your employer is open for business.  Don’t give fewer than 2 day’s notice, and don’t give more than 10.
  3. The employer is allowed to require that voting leave must occur at the beginning or end of your shift.
  4. Your employer may not require you to use earned leave (such as vacation, PTO, etc.) as your voting leave.

Please note:  If your shift begins after 10:00 am or ends before 5:00 pm, then you have four consecutive hours in which to get to the polls, and you are not entitled to paid voting leave. 

The New York State Board of Elections has a handy FAQ available for details.  If you feel that your employer is violating this law, you can contact the New York State Division of Labor Standards (888-4-NSYDOL) or the New York State Attorney General’s Office Labor Bureau (212-416-8700).

Still have questions about New York paid voting leave? Contact a workplace attorney near you!

Paid Voting Leave

Need To Take Time Off From Work To Vote on November 2, 2021? 

On Tuesday, November 2, 2021, polls in New York will be open from 6:00 am to 9:00 pm.

Employees in New York are eligible for up to two hours of paid time off to vote in certain circumstances. 

Specifically, if you don’t have “sufficient time to vote” during your workday, NYS Election law gives you up to two hours paid time off to vote. Election Law §3-110. By contrast, you are deemed to have “sufficient time to vote” if you have four consecutive hours to vote either from the opening of the polls to the beginning of your shift, or four consecutive hours between the end of your shift and the closing of the polls. Id. 

Here’s an example.  If you must work from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, the election law deems you as having “sufficient time to vote” and therefore not eligible to paid voting leave.  This is because the polls are open until 9:00 pm – which is four consecutive hours after the end of your shift at 5:00 pm.  If, however, you work from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, you can get paid voting leave because the polls are open for only three consecutive hours after the end of your shift. The total amount of paid time off you are entitled to depends on several factors, including travel time from your workplace to your polling place, waiting time at your polling place, traffic, among other things. The maximum paid time off to vote is capped at two hours. 

Please note the following: 

  • You are required to give your employer at least two working days prior notice of your intention to take paid time off to vote, but not more than ten working days’ notice. The term “working days” is defined as any day that your employer is open for business. 
  • Your employer cannot require you to use personal time off or any other form of earned leave time to vote. 
  • Regardless of your vaccination status, masks are required for all individuals entering polling locations. 

If, you believe your employer is impermissibly denying you paid time off for voting, contact a workers’ rights attorney or the New York State Department of Labor.  

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