The 2020 Illinois primary election is on Tuesday, March 17. System Human Resource Services would like to remind you of the Illinois law regarding primary elections and time off for voting. Please share this with managers, supervisors, and human resources staff in your unit.
Generally, employees are expected to vote during non-working hours. However, if an employee’s work hours conflict with the polling hours, then the employee may be eligible for time off to vote.
Any employee who is entitled to vote is allowed to be absent from work for a period of two hours between the time of the opening and closing of the polls. Since election polls in Illinois are open from 6:00 AM to 7:00 PM, the vast majority of employees will be able to vote before or after their work hours, and therefore the employing unit can specify voting times that do not conflict with work hours or which reduce the amount of work absence.
Employees whose work hours begin less than two hours after the opening of the polls, AND end less than two hours before the polls close are entitled to an unpaid absence of up to two hours during their work day to vote. The employing unit may specify the hours to be taken off.
HOW TO REPORT VOTING LEAVE
** Civil Service non-exempt and other hourly employees should report voting leave as an “Excused Absence W/O Pay.”
** Faculty, Academic Professional, and Exempt Civil Service employees generally will not need to report time to vote unless 2 hours constitutes a half day of work. Employees in this situation should follow their departmental reporting procedures.
MORE INFORMATION
For more information on these provisions, including guidance for documentation and reporting, please see: https://www.hr.uillinois.edu/leave/other/votingprimary/
If you have questions about an employee’s request for time off to vote, please contact your university or system human resources office.
