New Minnesota Voter Leave Law

Minnesota now requires that employees be given paid time off at any time of day to vote. State legislators amended the voting leave statute in 2010, strengthening what was already one of the strongest voting leave laws in the country.

 

Under the new law, an employee in Minnesota must be allowed to be absent from work at any time of day to vote. This includes allowing time to travel to the polling place, cast a ballot and return to work. The employer must grant this time off even if the employee has sufficient time when polls are open to vote outside work hours.

 

The previous version of the law required only that the employer allow time off in the morning. Under the newly amended law, the employer may be required to permit sufficient time off at any time of day, including afternoon, evening or night.

 

In addition, the Minnesota voting law requires that employees be paid to vote. The law specifies that the employee will not be penalized or have wages deducted for time spent voting. This means that hourly, exempt and non-exempt employees are entitled to payment for voting under the amendment passed by the Minnesota State Legislature.

 

It is a misdemeanor for anyone including the employer to directly or indirectly interfere with, refuse or abridge the employee’s right to vote.

 

The majority of states have voting leave laws including Illinois, New Mexico, Nebraska, Kentucky and Kansas. However, in many cases the laws simply require that the employee be scheduled so that he or she has sufficient time to vote while the polling places are open. In many cases, three consecutive hours are deemed sufficient time to vote. If the employee is scheduled to work throughout the polling hours, the employee must be given unpaid time off to vote. Very few states other than Minnesota require that employees be given paid time to vote even when the employee could vote outside work hours. 

 

Employees are allowed leave to vote under some circumstances in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

 

 

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