Coming Full Circle: New York Election Law Amendments Revert to Pre-2019 Law

The New York budget legislation signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on April 3 includes notable amendments to the New York Election Law that may look familiar to employers. The 2020 amendments eliminate and modify voting leave requirements implemented in 2019, effectively reverting to the pre-2019 law regarding employee time off to vote.

Employers may recall that in April 2019, the Election Law was amended to allow an employee who is a registered voter to take off time from work without loss of pay for up to three hours to vote in any election, provided the employee notified the employer at least two working days prior to the election that the employee required time off to vote. The 2019 amendments modified the paid-time-off provision from up to two hours to up to three hours and eliminated (i) the provision allowing paid voting leave only if the employee does not have sufficient non-work time to vote, and (ii) the presumption that an employee does not need paid time off to vote if there are at least four consecutive hours before or after the employee’s scheduled working hours when polls are open.

The 2020 Election Law amendments revert to the pre-2019 law by reducing the paid-time-off provision to a maximum of only two hours and providing that such paid time off is only required if the employee does not have sufficient time outside of his or her scheduled working hours to vote. The 2020 amendments also reinstate the pre-2019 presumption that an employee has sufficient time to vote “if an employee has four consecutive hours either between the opening of the polls and the beginning of his or her working shift, or between the end of his or her working shift and the closing of the polls[.]” Under the new amendments, employees are again required to request time off to vote between two and ten working days before the election. Employers are still required to post a notice in a conspicuous place describing employees’ rights under the law at least ten working days before every election until the close of polls on Election Day.

What the 2020 Amendments Mean for Employers

The 2020 amendments were immediately effective, and employers in New York State should ensure that managers and human resources professionals are aware of these new changes in the law’s requirements. Further, because employers likely modified voting paid-time-off policies in accordance with the 2019 amendments, they should now review and revise their policies and Election Law notices to reflect these changes.

For convenience, below is a chart that highlights the major differences between the 2019 amendments and the 2020 amendments.