Employment Law Update | Employers Must Now Allow Employees 3 Hours of Paid Time Off to Vote

Just last week, Governor Cuomo announced highlights to a series of changes in the state’s fiscal year 2020 budget. Among the changes, employers should be most aware of the new amendment concerning voting leave for employees.

In an effort to promote democracy and build upon voting reform, Governor Cuomo has made an amendment to previous election laws, mandating all New York employers to allow three hours of paid time off for their employees to vote on Election Day. Employers will still need to post a notice, in a common area of the place of work, detailing the conditions for voting leave.

In order to be eligible for this paid time off, employees must:

• Be registered to vote.
• Provide 2 days notice before the day of the election.

Prior to this new amendment, employees were entitled to two hours of paid time off only if they did not have four or more consecutive hours between the opening of the polls and the beginning of their shift, or between the end of their shift and the closing of the polls.

While Governor Cuomo has yet to sign the budget, we anticipate these changes to take place just in time for the New York State primary election on June 25, 2019.

https://www.elections.ny.gov/NYSBOE/elections/AttentionEmployees.pdf