On April 1, 2019, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced amendments to New York State Election Law § 3-110. Effective immediately, employers must allow all employees who are registered voters up to three (3) hours of paid time off to vote during “any election” regardless of their schedule. The law no longer requires registered voters to have “sufficient time outside his [or her] working hours to vote.” The law still permits employers to designate whether the time off to vote should be taken at the beginning or end of the employee’s working shift. The employer and the employee may also mutually agree upon a different time during the employee’s working shift for the employee to vote. For example, they may agree that the employee will take a break during the middle of his or her shift in order to vote.
A registered voter is still required to notify his or her employer at least two days in advance of an election day of the need to take time off to vote.
Employers are reminded of the law’s requirement to post a notice informing employees of their paid voting leave rights. The notice must be posted at least ten working days before an election and remain posted until the polls close on the election day. The Board of Elections has issued a revised notice which may be accessed by clicking the following link:
Employers should update their Voting Leave Policy in their employee handbook in light of these amendments.
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