GUIDELINES — TIME OFF TO VOTE
Election Day is a floating holiday. Time off requests for the holiday should be considered in accordance with our usual time off policies and union contracts. See Time Reporting Guidelines below.
Per the NY State Election Law, employees who work on Election Day and are registered to vote may take up to two hours of paid leave (without charge to accruals) to vote in qualifying elections in New York State when they do not have sufficient time to vote before or after their work shift. Qualifying elections include general elections, special elections called by the Governor, primary elections and municipal elections.
THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA MUST BE FOLLOWED TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE
Employees working on Election Day must request time off to vote at least two working days before Election Day. For example, since Election Day falls on November 5, employees who work Monday – Friday must request time off to vote on or before Friday, November 1.
The supervisor has the discretion to determine whether the time off should be taken at the beginning or end of the work shift.
Employees working on Election Day are entitled to two hours of leave without charge to accruals if they have insufficient time to vote. If the employee’s shift starts or ends less than four hours from the opening or closing of the polls, they qualify for paid leave without charge to accruals, and they must follow the Time Reporting Guidlines below.
Managers cannot deny employees working on Election Day time off to vote if the above criteria has been met. However, the number of hours of leave may be reduced if there is an operational need to do so.
Employees who do not work on Election Day are not entitled to the two-hour leave.
TIME REPORTING GUIDELINES
Appropriate accruals must be charged for any absences.
Stony Brook University Hospital and Long Island State Veterans Home (LISVH) Employees:
- CSEA/PEF/MC employees should enter “Float Holiday” code in Kronos
- UUP employees should enter “Holiday” code in Kronos.
- For employees who qualify for leave and taking time off to vote, the “Election” pay code should be entered in Kronos.
Stony Brook University Employees
- CSEA/PEF/PBANYS employees taking time off to vote must note "Voting Time" on their time sheet for the date of the election.
- UUP/MC employees who take time off to vote must choose the accrual type VOT (Voting Time) in the Solar Time Reporting System.
- Research Foundation employees taking time off to vote must note VOT on their time sheet for the date of the election or choose the accrual type VOT (Voting Time) in the Solar Time Reporting System.
Questions?
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
University Hospital Timekeeping 631-444-4370
LISVH Timekeeping 631-444-4370
University Time & Attendance: State: hrs_timeatt@stonybrook.edu; RF: rf_payroll@stonybrook.edu
FAQs
Q. Do you have an example of "sufficient time"?
A. Employees who are off duty for four or more consecutive hours either between the opening of the polls and the beginning of the employee's work shift OR between the end of their work shift and the closing of the polls are deemed to have sufficient time to vote.
For example, if an employee is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., the employee is not eligible for paid time off to vote, because the polls are open for four consecutive hours after the employee’s shift ends at 5 p.m. However, if an employee is scheduled to work from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., then the employee is eligible for paid time off to vote because the employee only has less than four consecutive hours off at the beginning and end of their shift.
Q. Does this apply to early voting?
A. No, the guidelines apply to voting taking place on Election Day (or designated Election Day for other qualified elections, including special elections called by the Governor, primary elections, and municipal elections).
