Time Off to Vote During Federal Elections

In accordance with the Election Act, all electors must have three consecutive, non-work hours to vote either on election day or during advance voting days. If the regular work schedule does not provide for this time, the university will provide paid time off to ensure employees have the opportunity to vote. All election day voting locations are open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and advance voting locations are open from 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Please keep the following in mind:

• If an employee already has three consecutive non-working hours during polling hours, no additional time off is required.
• If additional time is needed, management will determine when that time will be provided, either on an advance voting day or on election day.
• Any time off provided for voting purposes will be paid, and no penalties or deductions will apply.
• This time off is to be used only for voting.
• If an employee has already voted (by special ballot or earlier advance voting), they are not eligible for extra time off.

Example Scenarios

Example 1

An elector works all 5 days of advance voting and must work between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on election day. Since the employee has three consecutive hours between 4:00 pm and 7:30 pm to vote, the employer does not need to provide extra time off for voting.

Example 2

An elector works all 5 days of advance voting and on Election Day between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm. The employee does not have three consecutive non-work hours for voting on any voting day. The employer could provide either two hours off in the morning or one hour in the evening on any of the voting days. In this example, the employer determines when to give the employee time off based on the operational needs of the unit.