Voting Leave Requirements in Pennsylvania

At a glance

Pennsylvania has no time-off-to-vote law

Pennsylvania 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 in the Pennsylvania Election Code. The chip table reads "N/A" across those columns for that reason.

In practice, a Pennsylvania employee who needs to vote uses the state's polling hours on election day — 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. — a mail-in or absentee ballot if eligible, 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: employer coercion

Pennsylvania's Election Code regulates the employer relationship, but the subject is coercion, not scheduling. Under 25 P.S. § 3547(c), an employer may not pay wages in "pay envelopes" carrying a political motto or statement that threatens employees over how they vote, and may not, within ninety days of an election, post handbills or placards in the workplace threatening that if a particular candidate wins or loses, work will stop, the business will close, or wages will be cut. Such employer conduct is a misdemeanor of the second degree.

The same section, in subsections (a) and (b), more broadly bars any person or corporation from using force, violence, restraint, duress, or coercion to compel or prevent a person's vote, or to interfere with a voter's free exercise of the franchise. These protections guard an employee against being pressured or punished over voting; they are not a right to leave work to vote, and they set no paid-time or notice rule.

A voting-leave bill is pending, not yet law

House Bill 619, introduced in February 2025, would change this. It would amend the Election Code to add an "Employee Voter Leave" article: time off to vote at the beginning or end of the shift, on two working days' notice, with an employer duty to post a uniform notice, a proof-of-voting verification step, and a fine of $100 to $500 for an employer that refuses leave or penalizes an employee for taking it.

The bill was referred to the House Labor & Industry Committee and has not advanced. It is not law. Until it or a similar bill is enacted and takes effect, Pennsylvania has no statutory voting-leave requirement; this page notes the bill only so readers are not surprised if the rule changes.

Common questions

Does my Pennsylvania employer have to give me time off to vote?

No. No Pennsylvania statute requires time off to vote, paid or unpaid. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on election day; voting around your shift, mail-in voting, or an arrangement with your employer are the practical options.

What does the Election Code protect?

It makes it a crime for an employer to coerce your vote — for instance, through pay-envelope political threats or workplace notices threatening job or wage consequences based on an election result.

Is voting-leave law about to change?

Possibly. House Bill 619 (2025-2026) would create an employee voter-leave right, but it remains in committee and is not yet law.

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

Pennsylvania polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and you may apply for a mail-in ballot. You can also ask your employer for time, though the employer is not legally required to provide it.

Statutes and sources

• 25 P.S. § 3547(c) (Pennsylvania Election Code, Act of June 3, 1937, P.L. 1333): bars an employer from using pay-envelope political threats or workplace handbills threatening job, business, or wage consequences to influence employees' votes; a violation is a misdemeanor of the second degree — official Election Code text (accessed July 13, 2026).
• PA HB 619 (2025-2026): pending Employee Voter Leave proposal and current action history — official bill page (checked October 5, 2026).