By Killian McParland and Sophie Poulos

As recently announced, the next Nova Scotia provincial election will be held on Tuesday, November 26, 2024.

Under Nova Scotia’s Elections Act, every employee who is an eligible voter (i.e. a Canadian citizen, aged 18 and older, who has lived in Nova Scotia since April 27, 2024) is entitled to have three consecutive hours available to vote while polls are open on election day.

Voting hours on election day will be from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Employers are required to provide an employee with paid time off on election day if the employee’s work schedule does not already provide them with three consecutive hours to vote.

For example, an employee scheduled to work from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on election day will already have three consecutive hours to vote after work (5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.), and is therefore not entitled to time off.

However, an employee scheduled to work from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on election day would only have one hour available to vote (7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.), and therefore must be provided additional time off with pay to ensure the employee has at least three consecutive hours to vote.

Where required, employers have the discretion to determine when the paid time off will be granted to provide the employee with three consecutive hours during voting hours. For example, in the example above, the employer may choose to allow the employee to leave work early at 5:00 p.m., resulting in two hours’ time off with pay (5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.), while leaving three consecutive voting hours at the end of the day (5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.).

Certain workers may be exempt from the three-hour rule, depending on the industry.

It is an offence for an employer to refuse or interfere with an employee’s right to three consecutive hours for voting, or to fail to provide any such time off with pay as required.

This client update is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. If you have any questions about the above, please contact the authors, or a member of our Labour & Employment Group.

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