Election Day 2022 and Your Business

Election Day, November 8, 2022, is approaching. For business owners, managers, and employees, that means now is the time to prepare.

30 states and the District of Columbia legally require employers to give workers time off to vote on Election Day. For each state, requirements range from a minimum amount of leave time to a specific range (e.g. “the first two hours that polls are open”). 23 of those states require that the time off is paid, and a handful of those specify that the time is only paid if the employee votes.

Workplace Fairness outlines the exact requirements stipulated by each state’s law. In particular, note how much advance notice of the time off you’ll need to give.

New York mandates that employers notify workers of their voting leave 10 business days in advance, and California requires 10 calendar days. This year, business owners in those states will want to send out that notification by Tuesday, October 25 and Saturday, October 29 respectively.

Furthermore, those two states and the District of Columbia require that the leave is announced with a specific document, either posted conspicuously in an office or—especially for remote workers—shared electronically. Find those documents here: California | DC | New York

Workers, on the other hand, are generally not required to give much or any advance notice about when they will take time off to vote. Communicating your company’s voting leave plan early will likely avoid workers announcing last-minute departures on Election Day, but in most states managers are required to approve the time off regardless of when employees give notice that they are leaving to vote.

Companies can suffer serious fines and penalties for obstructing a worker from voting, encouraging them to vote a certain way, or punishing them for whom they do or don’t vote for. So while being compliant with your state’s policies regarding leave for voting is important, pressuring or persuading employees to vote in a certain manner should be avoided.

Though this may sound obvious, business owners and employers themselves are also able to take time off to vote. If your business must stay open for all of Election Day, you’ll want to plan ahead to ensure different sets of workers and supervisors are keeping the company running smoothly.

Now is the time to make sure you and your business are prepared for Election Day. Are you?