With elections approaching, below is a reminder of New York State’s Voting Leave Law for those employers with New York-based employees:
Under N.Y. Election Law § 3-110(1), employers must provide employees who are registered voters with “sufficient time” for “any 
election” so that they may vote. Pursuant to N.Y. Election Law § 3-110(2), employers are required to provide employees with up to two (2) hours of paid leave if those employees do not have: 1) four (4) consecutive nonworking hours between the time the polls open and close, and 2) who do not have “sufficient” nonworking time to vote. Under N.Y. Election Law § 3-110(3), employees seeking paid leave must notify their employer between two (2) and ten (10) days before election day. The employer may decide whether the leave is to be taken at the beginning or end of an employee’s shift.
Employers should be mindful that New York law requires every employer, regardless of size, to post the state’s Voting Leave Law notice “conspicuously in the place of work,” no fewer than ten (10) days prior to the election, and the notice must remain in place until the close of the polls. New York’s primary election will take place on June 24, 2014 which means you should have already posted your notices, and if you haven’t already done so, please consider this a friendly reminder!
Given that New York law requires that employers post the voting leave law notice prior to “every election,” HR Knowledge recommends as a best practice to include the posting as part of your ongoing compliance posters. You can find a sample posting at http://www.elections.ny.gov/NYSBOE/elections/AttentionEmployees.pdf.
Thirty-one states to date have voter leave laws. If you are not a New York employer click here to find out what the law is in your state to ensure you are compliant with your state regulations..