Global Compliance Desk – Ontario, Canada

Voting Leave for June 2022 Ontario Provincial Election 

The 2022 Ontario general election will take place on June 2, 2022. Voters will elect members of the provincial government to serve in the Legislative Assembly.

Under Ontario’s Election Act,  every employee who is qualified to vote is entitled to 3 consecutive hours to vote while the polls are open.

An employee who is not scheduled to work during the voting period is not entitled to paid time off from work.  But, if the 3 consecutive hours of voting leave period fall within the employee’s work schedule, then the employee shall be provided 3 additional hours of paid time off for voting by the employer.

While the law requires the employer to grant the employee’s request, any duration of leave for voting provided to an employee may be granted at the time of day which is convenient to the employer. The employer shall not make any deduction from the employee’s pay or penalize the employee in any way due to the employee’s absence for voting purposes.

In addition to the voting leave, an employer is required to grant an employee unpaid leave to perform their duties under the Election Act, provided the employee makes the request at least 7 days prior to the leave. The employer may not dismiss or penalize an employee because they exercised their right to be granted leave, and the employee’s leave should not be subtracted from their annual leave entitlement.