From: Staffing
Texas Voting Leave
According to the Texas voting leave law, located at Tex. Election Code Ann. §§ 276.001 – 276.010 and applicable to public and private employers, employees are entitled to take paid time off for voting on election days, unless the employee has at least two consecutive hours to vote outside of the his or her working hours.
Retaliation and Violations
A person commits an offense if, in retaliation against a voter who has voted for or against a candidate or measure or a voter who has refused to reveal how he or she voted, the person knowingly harms or threatens to harm the voter by an unlawful act, or with respect to a voter over whom the person has authority in the scope of employment, subjects or threatens to subject the voter to a loss or reduction of wages or another benefit of employment.
This offense is a felony of the third degree.
A person commits an offense if, with respect to another person over whom the person has authority in the scope of employment, the person knowingly refuses to permit the other person to be absent from work on election day for the purpose of attending the polls to vote, or subjects or threatens to subject the other person to a penalty (i.e., loss or reduction of wages or another employment benefit) for attending the polls on election day to vote.
This offense is a Class C misdemeanor. However, denying an employee voting leave is not prohibited if there are two nonworking hours during the opening and closing of the polls in which to vote.
Additionally, voting leave violations may include orders directing the employer to pay a fine up to $500.
State Employees
