Policy
Legislation enacted in April 2020 (Chapter 55, Laws of 2020) amended the Election Law to allow employees to take up to two hours of paid leave to vote in any election in New York State when the employee does not have sufficient time to vote before or after their work shift.
Specifically, Section 3-110 of the Election Law was amended to allow all employees who are registered voters, and who do not have sufficient time to vote outside of their working hours, to take off an amount of time, which when added to the voting time available outside working hours, will enable to them to vote. Additional time off for employees who are covered by the Attendance Rules should be charged to vacation, overtime compensatory time credits or personal leave, as approved by the agency.
Four consecutive hours either between the opening of the polls and the beginning of the employee’s work shift, or between the end of their work shift and the closing of the polls, is considered sufficient time to vote.
Time off to vote must be taken at the beginning or end of the work shift, as directed by the agency, unless the agency and the employee mutually agree on another time.
Time off to vote applies to general elections, special elections called by the Governor, primary elections, town and village elections, but not to school or library elections.
If an employee requires time off to vote, they must notify the agency not more than ten nor fewer than two working days before the day of the election.
Please direct any questions to Human Resources at [email protected] or 607-753-2302.