Election day is a couple weeks away — November 3, 2020. Now that I’ve told you something you already know, here is a reminder of Maryland law requiring employers to provide employees time off to vote.
Maryland employers must allow any employee who claims to be a Maryland registered voter up to two (2) hours of leave from work on election day so that the employee can cast a ballot if the employee does not have two (2) continuous off-duty hours while the polls are open.
The two hours of voting leave must be paid. An employee must provide her employer proof that she voted or attempted to vote.
The State Board of Elections explains this requirement on its Rules and Information for Voters website:
Employers must give certain employees time off to vote and pay them for their absence. If an employee is a registered voter and does not have two continuous hours off-duty between 7 am and 8 pm on election day, the voter’s employer must give the employee two hours to vote and pay the employee for the two hour absence.
You can find additional information on voting in Maryland through the Attorney General’s Office and elsewhere on the State Board of Election’s website.