October 23, 2000
MEMORANDUM FOR HUMAN
RESOURCES DIRECTORS |
FROM: |
HENRY ROMERO
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
FOR WORKFORCE COMPENSATION
AND PERFORMANCE
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SUBJECT: |
Excused Absence for Voting |
The Federal Government has a longstanding policy of granting employees
limited time off from work (i.e., excused absence) to vote in Federal, State,
county, or municipal elections or in referendums on any civic matter in their
community. Agencies have discretionary authority to grant excused absence to the
extent that such time off does not seriously interfere with agency operations. Typically,
polling places throughout the United States are open for extended periods of
time. Therefore, excused absence should rarely be needed.
We have received a number of questions about excused absence for the purpose
of voting in the Presidential election on November 7, 2000. In response to these
questions, we offer the following guidelines for agencies to consider when
granting excused absence for voting:
- Generally, where the polls are not open at least 3 hours either before or
after an employees regular work hours, an agency may grant a limited
amount of excused absence that will permit the employee to report for work 3
hours after the polls open or leave from work 3 hours before the polls
close, whichever requires the lesser amount of time off. An employees
"regular work hours" should be determined by reference to the time
of day the employee normally arrives at and departs from work.
- If an employees voting place is beyond normal commuting distance and
vote by absentee ballot is not permitted, the employing agency may grant
excused absence (not to exceed 1 day) to allow the employee to make the trip
to the voting place to cast a ballot. If more than 1 day is needed, the
employee may request annual leave or leave without pay for the additional
period of absence.
For more information, please contact OPMs Pay and Leave Administration
Division at (202) 606-2858 or by email at payleave@opm.gov.
Last Modified: 4:06:26 PM on Thursday, September 04, 2003
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