Employers Should Review State Voting Leave Laws Prior to November 6

Lonnie Giamela, a partner in both the Los Angeles and Irvine offices, was interviewed for the October 22 Bloomberg BNA Human Resources Report article "Employers Should Review State Voting Leave Laws Prior to November 6, Attorneys Advise. "The article noted that, as the presidential election nears, employers should review state voting leave laws and effectively communicate the specifics to employees to ensure compliance. Over 30 states have laws that require employers to permit employees paid time off to get to a voting booth if they cannot find the time to vote due to their scheduled work shift. Lonnie advised employers to communicate to employees, before the end of October, the company's voting leave policy via email, a written memorandum, or a meeting. He added that there should be a separate communication from human resources to company managers advising them of things such as how much leave employees may take, when leave notice must be given by employees, whether the employer or employee specifies the hours of leave, and whether the leave is paid or unpaid. Since this is a presidential election, it is expected to have much higher turnout than mid-term elections, so employers will need to have a plan in place to accommodate their employees.