Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called a federal election for
October 21, 2019. As Canadians prepare to head to the
polls, employers should be aware of their Election Day obligations.
Under the Canada Elections Act, employees who are eligible to vote
must have at least three consecutive hours to cast their ballots on
Election Day. While many employees have sufficient time to vote
before or after work due to polling hours, those who do not must be
granted voting time off at the employer's convenience.
For example, Ontario polling stations are currently scheduled to
be open from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. As a result, an
employee who is scheduled to work from 10:00 a.m. to
7:00 p.m. will not have three consecutive hours to cast their
ballot. In order to satisfy the statutory requirement, the employer
could schedule the employee to work from 9:30 a.m. to
6:30 p.m. or from 12:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on
Election Day. Alternatively, in this scenario, the employer could
simply
