NYS Employers: Reminder to Provide Employees Paid Time Off to Vote (If Requested 2 Working Days Before Election Day) in Business and at Work

In the great state of New York, employers must educate and support (quoting § 3-110 of NYS Election Law, which, by the way, is found on the NYS Board of Elections website – rather than the NYS Department of Labor website, which also has no reference / link to this employer requirement) their employees right to vote on Election Day:

• 10 business days before Election Day, employers must post this NYS Board of Election notice with their other required NYS and federal employee labor postings (if it’s not already posted there – the recommendation is to leave this notice posted with the rest of your labor postings year-round);

• If an employee requires working time off to vote,  they are required to notify the employer not more than 10 nor less than 2 working days before the day of the election that the employee requires the time off off to vote;

• If employees who are registered to vote have sufficient time to vote, the employer is not required to pay employees up to 2 hours to vote.
  • Sufficient time consists of 4 consecutive hours either before or after work in conjunction with poll hours;

• If an employee who’s a registered voter does not have sufficient time outside of their working hours, all employers must provide a time not to exceed two hours absence from work with pay to let employees vote.
  • Again, sufficient time for an employee to vote outside of work hours consists of 4 consecutive hours either before or after work in conjunction with poll hours.

Have you ensured that you’ve complied with the NYS posting, notification and paid time off to vote requirement (if applicable) for employers, in business and at work?