As we discussed here, New York State passed an amendment to its election leave law as part of the state’s 2020 budget. This law is now in effect and provides that: (i) registered voters must be granted leave of up to three hours to vote without loss of pay; (ii) employers must allow employees to take time off to vote at either the beginning or the end of a working shift (but the employer can designate whether an employee takes the voting leave at the beginning or end of the shift); (iii) if both the employer and employee agree, the voting leave can take place at a different time; (iv) employees who need time off to vote must give their employers at least two working days’ notice of the intent to take leave; and (v) employers must post a notice of employees’ rights pursuant to this law at least 10 days before each election.   

On June 25, 2019, New York State will be holding primaries.  Because primaries are elections that are covered by the election law, all New York State employers must post a notice of rights in accordance with the statute on or before June 15, 2019.