With the General Election on Tuesday, November 6, quickly approaching, employers are reminded of Hawaii’s voting law giving employees time off to vote.  See Haw. Rev. Stat. § 11-95.  Employees are not entitled to an entire day off to vote.  They are, however, entitled to two consecutive hours (excluding lunch and rest periods) in which to vote between the opening of the polls at 7:00 a.m. and the closing of the polls at 6:00 p.m.  If an employee’s hours of employment are such that the employee has a period of two consecutive hours when the employee is not working (excluding lunch and rest periods), but while the polls are open, an employer need not provide the employee with additional time off.

For instance, if an employee is normally scheduled to work from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., the employee has two consecutive hours to vote prior to the normally scheduled shift and thus, is not eligible for additional voting time off from the employer.

However, if an employee is normally scheduled to work from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., the employer must give an additional hour of voting time off so the employee has two consecutive hours to vote.  The employer could allow the employee to start work at 9:00 a.m. so the employee can vote from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.  Alternatively, the employer could permit the employee to end work at 4:00 p.m. so the employee can vote from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Voters are prohibited from being subject to any penalty, rescheduling of normal hours, or deductions from salary or wages because they took time off to vote.  Employers may require employees to present a voter’s receipt as proof that the employee voted.

The penalty for noncompliance is a fine of $50-$300.