Time off to vote in the 2021 federal election
The federal election will be held on Monday, September 20, 2021.
Under s. 132 of the Canada Elections Act (“Act”), every employee who is an elector (i.e. a Canadian citizen and 18 years of age or older) is entitled, during voting hours on polling day, to have three consecutive hours for the purpose of casting his or her vote.
The voting hours on polling day for electoral districts in the Newfoundland or Atlantic time zone are 8:30 a.m. to 8.30 p.m.
Therefore, for an employee who works from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., the employee would still have three consecutive hours off work while the polls are open in order to vote (5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.). The employer need not provide this employee with any additional time off work.
However, where an employee’s working hours do not permit three consecutive hours off work to vote while the polls are open, the employer must allow the employee additional time with pay to provide the three consecutive hours. However, it is at the employer’s discretion as to when the three consecutive hours will occur.
Therefore, for an employee who works from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., the employee would only have one and a half consecutive hours to vote while the polls are open (7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.). In these circumstances, the employer could choose to let the employee:
(a) leave work at 5:30 p.m. (so the employee has three consecutive hours to vote from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.);
(b) begin their work day at 11:30 a.m. (so the employee has three consecutive hours from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. to vote); or,
(c) have three consecutive hours off at any point during the work day while the polls are open.
The only exception in the Act to the “three consecutive hours rule” is for employees who transport goods or passengers by land, air or water, who operate these transportation services outside his or her polling division. An employer is not required to offer three consecutive hours away from work if the time off would interfere with the transportation service.
Employers are prohibited under the Act from failing to allow an employee three consecutive hours for voting or for interfering with an elector’s right to have three consecutive hours for voting by intimidation, undue influence, or by any other means. Employers are also prohibited under the Act from deducting from the pay of an employee or imposing a penalty on the employee for the time that the employer is required to allow for voting.
This client update is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. If you have any questions about the above, please contact a member of our Labour and Employment group.
Click here to subscribe to Stewart McKelvey Thought Leadership.
Archive
The integrity of the jury system has become a pressing topic for our courts of late, with articles about jury duty frequently appearing front and centre in the press. The recent message from the Nova…
Read MoreIN THIS ISSUE: Cloud computing: House to navigate risky skies by Daniela Bassan and Michelle Chai Growing a startup by Clarence Bennett, Twila Reid and Nicholas Russon Knowing the lay of the land – Aboriginal rights and land claims in Labrador by Colm St. Roch Seviour and Steve Scruton Download…
Read MoreDOES IT APPLY TO YOU? On June 1, 2013, the Personal Health Information Act (PHIA) comes into force in Nova Scotia. If you are involved in health care in Nova Scotia, you need to know whether PHIA…
Read MoreEDITOR’S COMMENT This edition of Atlantic Employers’ Counsel focuses on key areas of employment standards in Atlantic Canada. Employment standards legislation outlines the rights and obligations of employees and requirements that apply to employers in…
Read MoreNEW TORT OF CYBERBULLYING On May 10, 2013 the Nova Scotia legislature passed the Cyber-safety Act (Bill 61). When this bill comes into force, it will give rise to a new tort of cyberbullying that…
Read MoreGOVERNMENT ACTION In the Economic Action Plan 2010, the Harper Government committed to bring greater clarity to how mortgage prepayment penalties were calculated. As part of the commitment, on February 26, 2013 the government released…
Read MoreSTEWART MCKELVEY WELCOMES BACK WANDA DOIRON AS MANAGER, CORPORATE SERVICES – NOVA SCOTIA You might remember Wanda from her time in our Corporate Services group from 2002 to 2008. Since then, she has worked in-house…
Read MoreREASONABLE PEOPLE DOING QUESTIONABLE THINGS: CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AND JUST CAUSE Can a unionized employee moonlight in his off hours to earn some extra money by doing the same work he does for his daytime…
Read MoreStewart McKelvey’s Vision Improving Legal Analysis (SVILA*) is an e-discovery project and litigation management tool. For more information on our e-discovery services, download the SVILA e-discovery document.
Read MoreIN THIS ISSUE: A New Brunswick business lawyer’s perspective by Peter Klohn Why Canada’s immigration rules matter to your business by Andrea Baldwin Financing Energy Projects during the Project Lifecycle by Lydia Bugden, Colm St. Roch Seviour and Tauna Staniland Download…
Read More