Election season is upon us. This means your employees have already voted or will request leave to vote on election day. In California, employees who are eligible to vote in a statewide or national election may request leave to vote from their employers if the employees do not have enough time outside their working hours to vote. California employees are allowed to take as much time as needed to vote; but employers are only required to pay employees for up to two hours of voting leave. Any remaining leave time will be unpaid. In California, an employee may take voting leave at either the beginning or the end of their regular work shift, whichever will give the employee the most time to vote and the least amount of time away from work.
California Elections Code section 14001 requires employers to post a notice to employees advising them of provisions for taking paid leave for the purpose of voting in statewide elections. A sample of this notice is available online here. California’s voting leave law is remarkably different from Federal law in that federal law does not require employers to provide voting leave to their employees.
