Time off to Vote Notices

State law (California Elections Code Section 14001) requires employers to post a notice to employees advising them of provisions for taking paid leave for the purpose of voting in statewide elections. A sample of this notice, as well as a notice to employers regarding time off for voting has been produced by the Secretary of State's office. These notices are available below as a PDF downloads, which may be printed. Or, you may call the Elections Division at (916) 657-2166 to order posters of the notices.

Employers must post the employee notice 10 days before a statewide election. (Note: Statewide elections are regularly scheduled on the first Tuesday following the first Monday of March and November of even-numbered years. "Special" statewide elections may also be called but are not regularly scheduled. In general, a statewide election is defined as one in which all voters in the state have an opportunity to vote on at least one common race or issue.

The employee notice must be posted either in the workplace or where it can be seen by employees as they enter or exit their place of work.

Employees are eligible for paid time off for the purpose of voting only if they do not have sufficient time outside of working hours to vote. The intent of the law is to provide an opportunity to vote to workers who would not be able to do so because of their jobs.

Voting hours are from 7am to 8pm.

Employees can be given as much time as they need in order to vote, but only a maximum of two hours is paid.

Employers may require employees to give advance notice that they will need additional time off for voting.

Employers may require time off to be taken only at the beginning or end of the employee's shift.