Have You Reviewed Your State’s Voting Leave Laws?

Today is Tuesday, October 30th, 2018, marking less than a full calendar week until the polls open across the country for the 2018 elections.  (This, of course, doesn’t include the many states that offer some form of early voting.)  And while “midterm” elections such as this year’s have historically seen lower turnout, a mix of polling, analysis, and reporting suggests that the November 6th election will see particularly strong voter interest.

This is all very interesting, you may be saying to yourself, but what on earth does it have to do with employment discrimination?  Simple!

A majority of states have some form of laws that require employers to provide employees with time off for voting.  In these states, employers are frequently prohibited from taking adverse action or retaliating against employees who exercise their right to take voting leave, with significant penalties for noncompliance.

Just check out this map from Business Insider to get a sense of how prevalent employee state voting leave laws are (disclaimer: do not rely solely on the descriptions from the Business Insider article to assess compliance with state voting leave laws; at minimum, you’ve got to actually read the applicable laws, of course!).

There is no federal law providing voting leave, and state voting leave laws often vary in their scope and terms.  In addressing workplace policies and practices as it concerns state voting leave laws, some questions that typically come up are:  is the leave paid or unpaid?  How much time off must employees be given to vote?  Can employers verify that employees who take voting leave have, in fact, voted?  How much notice must employees provide of the intent to use voting leave?  To what election(s) do voting leave requirements apply?  Is there an exception for small businesses?  Can the employer designate times for employees to take off?  Can employees be required to request absentee or vote by mail ballots in lieu of taking voting leave?  Etc.

With Election Day quickly approaching, employers should review the applicable laws on voting leave in their state(s) of operation, in order to facilitate proper planning and legal compliance.