Federal Law Alert: Upcoming Voting Leave Compliance Obligations

Election Day is almost here, so now is a good time to brush up on voting leave laws and make sure you’re posting any mandatory notices.

Voting Leave

Most states require that employers provide at least a few hours off to vote, and sometimes those hours need to be paid. Often these laws require very little advance notice from employees about their need for leave, so employers should be prepared to grant last-minute requests to leave work to vote.

If you’re in a state with early voting, you may want to encourage employees to take advantage of that option—by offering the same time-off benefit—to reduce the number of absences on Election Day. The availability of early voting and absentee ballots, however, doesn’t change an employee’s right to vote on Election Day if that’s their preference.

Current Scale Funding clients with access to our HR OnDemand platform, we encourage you to visit the laws pages on the platform to learn about the voting leave laws in the states where you operate. We also have a guide on the platform, Managing Political Conversations and Supporting Employee Voting Rights, that might be useful in the coming months. Those not on the platform, please reach out to your local government election sites to understand the legal compliance for voting.

Required Notices

California, DC, and New York also require that employers post a notice about employees’ voting rights in a conspicuous location in the workplace. Employees who work from home or don’t report to the workplace regularly should be provided with these notices electronically.

California

California requires the notice to be posted at least 10 days before the November 5 election—which is October 26, a Saturday. If you’re closed on Saturdays, we recommend posting or sending this notice by Friday the 25th. California’s notice can be found in English here and in other languages here.

The District of Columbia

DC requires that employers post a voting leave notice created by the DC Board of Elections (DCBOE) at least 60 days before the November 5 election—which is September 6. If you provide this notice electronically for remote employees, you need to get their acknowledgment of receipt. This election’s notice can be found in English and in other languages here. The DCBOE has a web page with additional information.

New York

New York requires the notice to be posted at least 10 working days before the November 5 election (this would be October 22 for a Monday through Friday workplace). New York’s notice is available here.