WASHINGTON — We’re just one week away from midterm Election Day: have you made your voting plans? Depending on where you live, your boss may be required to give you time off work to cast your ballot.
OUR SOURCES
- Washington D.C. Code
- Maryland Law
- State laws in all 50 states
WHAT WE FOUND
IN THE DMV:
In D.C., District Code requires employers give up to two hours paid leave to vote, even if it’s not an election in D.C. It can’t count against the employee’s PTO.
The law allows an employer to request notice of that leave in advance, and specific time when they take that time off to vote–and that could include during early voting days.
In Maryland, election day is a state holiday. The law also requires employees who claim to be a registered voter up to two hours paid time off on Election Day to cast their ballot, if the employee doesn’t have two hours time off at the beginning or end of their day while polls are open.
Voters do need to be able to prove to their employer that they used that time to go vote, with a form from the state election board.
Despite recognizing Election Day as a state holiday, Virginia has no law requiring employers to give time off to vote.
FEDERAL WORKERS:
According to The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, federal employees can get up to four hours administrative leave to vote, as well as up to four hours of leave to work as poll workers or election observers. This can be on Election Day, or in the early voting period leading up to it.
Election Day is not a federal holiday, though lawmakers in the past have tried to change that with a few different proposals in recent years.
NATIONWIDE:
We looked at the laws at all 50 states plus here in D.C. and found a majority of the country requires employers give employees time off to vote on election days, the states here in green.
That includes paid and unpaid time off. If you check the fine print, some states require giving advanced notice, or may allow an employer to designate specific time to go vote, or might not have to offer the time if an employee has time before or after their shift, when the polls are open.
There currently aren’t laws requiring employees get time from their job to vote in Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, or Washington.
You can view state the laws granting time off to vote below: