Yes, in some states it’s mandatory for employers to give time off to vote

The 2024 general election is tomorrow and many Americans are preparing to head to the polls to vote. As the election is on a Tuesday, Google Trends shows a spike in people searching whether their employers are required to give them time off to vote.

VERIFY viewer Laura also asked whether employers in some states are required to give their employees time off on Election Day. 

THE QUESTION

Is it mandatory in some states for employers to give their employees time off to vote?

THE SOURCES

• Society for Human Resource Management 

• American Progress

• State laws

THE ANSWER

Yes, it's mandatory in some states for employers to give their employees time off to vote.

WHAT WE FOUND

There’s no federal law requiring employers to offer time off for their employees to vote, the Society for Human Resource Management says. But 28 states and the District of Columbia have laws that mandate employers give their workers time to vote on Election Day as needed.

According to the following state’s laws, employers are required to give time off to vote:

• Alabama

• Alaska

• Arizona

• Arkansas 

• California

• Colorado

• Georgia

• Illinois

• Iowa

• Kansas

• Kentucky

• Maryland

• Massachusetts

• Minnesota 

• Missouri

• Nebraska

• Nevada

• New Mexico

• New York

• Ohio

• Oklahoma

• South Dakota

• Tennessee

• Texas

• Utah

• West Virginia

• Wisconsin

• Wyoming

Whether the time off is paid, as well as the amount of time given to vote, varies by state.  

Twenty of the 28 states, plus the District of Columbia, “currently guarantee employees the right to paid leave from work in order to vote, subject to conditions that vary by state,” according to American Progress.

Many states have eligibility restrictions depending on how your work hours align with poll hours on Election Day. For example, California specifies the law is for voters who do “not have sufficient time outside of working hours to vote.” 

Arizona is another state that outlines a timeline for whether an employee is eligible for time off. The state's law says someone is entitled to time off to vote only “if there are less than three consecutive hours between the opening of the polls and the beginning of his regular work shift or between the end of his regular work shift and the closing of the polls.”

Alaska, Colorado, Iowa, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming also have similar policies.

In some cases, “workers may be able to take leave at the beginning or end of their shift such that they end up with a sufficient total time period in which to vote,” American Progress adds. 

Most states outline that employees are able to take time off for Election Day, but in Minnesota, Oklahoma and Georgia, employers are eligible to take time to vote during early voting or in-person absentee voting also.

To find more information about the specific policies for your state, click here.