With the Ontario Provincial Election just around the corner, now is a good time to start thinking about your obligations as an employer to provide your employees with time off work to vote.

Eligible voters who are 18 years of age or older and registered to vote are entitled to three consecutive hours off work during the time that their polling stations are open.  If an employee’s work schedule does not facilitate this requirement, an employer must grant them time off work to vote. Any time off work given to an employee for the purpose of voting must be paid.

For example, if an employee’s polling station is open from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and they are scheduled to work from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., the employee would have three consecutive hours after work to vote – no time off required. However, if their schedule is 11:00 to 8:00 p.m. there is no three-hour window to vote and the employer would need to adjust the schedule to provide three consecutive hours to vote (in this instance the employee could leave at 6:00 p.m.) The employer would not be permitted to deduct any wages from an employee’s pay for taking this time off work to vote.

The employer may decide which three consecutive hours to grant, if required to do so. Please note there are significant penalties for failing to comply.

If you have any questions about how the Ontario Provincial election voting requirements apply to your workforce, please contact an e2r™ Advisor.