Trying to fit a trip to the polls around a work shift? Texas law gives some employees time off to vote on Election Day if their work schedule leaves them without at least two consecutive hours to vote while polls are open.
The Texas Workforce Commission says employees who have not voted early are entitled to time off if they lack that two-hour window. The time must be paid if it overlaps with their normal work hours.
That rule may matter for people working long, overnight or rotating shifts in fields such as health care, emergency services, corrections, manufacturing, warehousing, logistics, and oil and gas.
For example, an employee scheduled from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day would have no two-hour window outside the shift while polls are open. A worker whose shift ends at 5 p.m. would have two hours to vote before polls close at 7 p.m. and generally would not qualify for time off. A worker on a 7 p.m.-to-7 a.m. shift would have daytime hours to vote.
Under Texas Workforce Commission guidance, employees who have not voted early and lack two consecutive hours to vote outside their work schedule are entitled to at least two hours off on Election Day. The time must be paid if it overlaps with their regular work hours. Missed mandatory overtime must be paid at the rate the employee would have earned; employers do not have to pay for missed overtime the employee volunteered to work. Employers may set when the time off is taken, as long as employees have a...
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