Voting Leave Requirements in New Jersey

At a glance

New Jersey has no time-off-to-vote law

New Jersey does not require an employer to give an employee time off to vote. There is no set number of hours, no paid-time rule, no outside-work-hours test, and no employee-notice or employer-posting requirement, because no affirmative voting-leave statute exists. The chip table reads "N/A" across those columns for that reason.

In practice, a New Jersey employee who needs to vote uses the state's polling hours on election day, in-person early voting, a vote-by-mail ballot, or time arranged with the employer. Whether the employer grants time to vote, and whether it is paid, is a matter of company policy or contract, not a state mandate.

What the election code does bar: coercion

New Jersey's election code regulates the employer relationship, but the subject is coercion, not scheduling. Under N.J.S.A. 19:34-27, an employer — or a company's agent, superintendent, or overseer — may not use or threaten force, violence, or restraint, or inflict or threaten injury, damage, harm, or loss against an employee, to compel the employee to vote or not vote for a particular candidate, or in retaliation for how the employee voted. The section also bars using duress, constraint, or improper influence to impede a voter's free exercise of the franchise.

A violation is a crime of the third degree. This protects an employee from being pressured or punished over voting; it is not a right to leave work to vote, and it sets no paid-time or notice rule.

A paid-leave bill is pending, not yet law

Companion bills introduced in January 2026 — Senate Bill 417 and Assembly Bill 3286 — would change this. As written, they would require every employer to give each employee two hours of fully paid leave a year to vote at a general election, usable at the start or end of the shift, on two business days' notice, with an employer duty to post a notice at least 10 days before the election. Enforcement would run through the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law.

These bills are pending in committee and are not law. Until one is enacted and takes effect, New Jersey has no statutory voting-leave requirement, and this page describes the bills only so readers are not surprised if the rule changes.

Common questions

Does my New Jersey employer have to give me time off to vote?

No. No New Jersey statute requires time off to vote, paid or unpaid. Voting around your shift, early voting, or vote-by-mail are the practical options.

What does the election code protect?

It makes it a third-degree crime for an employer to coerce your vote through force, threats, duress, or improper influence, or to punish you for how you voted.

Is voting-leave law about to change?

Maybe. Bills S 417 and A 3286 (2026-2027) would create a two-hour paid voting-leave right, but they remain in committee and are not yet law.

How do I vote if I work a long shift on election day?

Use New Jersey's in-person early voting days, a vote-by-mail ballot, or the polls' open hours. You can also ask your employer for time, though the employer is not legally required to provide it.

Statutes and sources

• N.J.S.A. 19:34-27 (amended 2005, c.154, s.45): bars an employer from using or threatening force, violence, restraint, injury, or improper influence to compel or punish an employee's vote; a violation is a crime of the third degree — official text (accessed July 13, 2026).