Michigan: Voting Leave Requirements
The short answer
Michigan has no general private-employer statute requiring time off or pay for an employee to vote. Michigan election law instead prohibits an individual from directly or indirectly discharging or threatening to discharge that individual's employee to influence the employee's vote at an election. A violation is a misdemeanor, but the statute creates no leave duration, outside-work-hours test, scheduling rule, employee notice deadline, or employer posting duty.
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This is the general rule in Michigan. Ezel applies current Michigan law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | Mich. Comp. Laws § 168.931(1)(d); no general private-employer voting-leave statute located |
|---|---|
| Eligible workers and elections | No statutory leave eligibility; coercion rule protects an employee's vote at an election (§ 168.931(1)(d)) |
| Outside-work-hours test | None; Michigan states no general private-employer voting-leave entitlement |
| Time-off amount | None required by the located statute |
| Paid or unpaid | No mandatory voting-leave pay under the located statute |
| When leave is taken | No statutory voting-leave window or scheduling rule |
| Employee notice and employer posting | No voting-leave employee notice or employer posting duty stated |
| Protection and penalties | No direct or indirect discharge or threatened discharge to influence employee's vote; violation is a misdemeanor (§ 168.931(1), (1)(d)) |
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Michigan regulates coercion, not time away from work
The current Michigan Election Law does not require an ordinary private employer
to release an employee from scheduled work, continue pay, or provide a voting
window. An employee who needs working time to vote must use an employer policy
or another applicable agreement rather than a general state voting-leave right.
Section 168.931 addresses a different workplace problem. An individual may not
directly or indirectly discharge or threaten to discharge that individual's
employee for the purpose of influencing how the employee votes at an election.
Violating that rule is a misdemeanor.
What trips people up
The discharge provision is an anti-coercion rule, not an authorization to leave
work. It states no amount of voting time, pay protection, outside-work-hours
condition, notice deadline, posting duty, or allocation of scheduling control.
Its stated purpose element also matters. Section 168.931(1)(d) targets discharge
or a discharge threat used “for the purpose of influencing” the employee's vote;
it is not written as a general voting-absence retaliation provision.
Common questions
Does Michigan require two paid hours to vote?
No. The current election code states no fixed private-sector voting-leave amount
or voting-leave pay requirement.
May an employer threaten discharge to influence an employee's vote?
No. That direct or indirect threat is prohibited by § 168.931(1)(d), and a
violation is a misdemeanor.
Must an employee give advance voting-leave notice?
Michigan's located statute creates no voting-leave request or notice procedure.
An employer policy or agreement may still establish an internal process.
Statutes and sources
- Mich. Comp. Laws § 168.931(1), (1)(d): misdemeanor classification and the
prohibition on discharge or threatened discharge used to influence an
employee's vote —
official text
(accessed July 13, 2026).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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