New Jersey: Voting Leave Requirements
The short answer
New Jersey has no general law requiring employers to give employees time off to vote, paid or unpaid. Its election code instead makes it a crime for an employer to coerce, threaten, or use force or improper influence to affect how an employee votes. A New Jersey employee who needs to vote relies on the polls' open hours, early or mail-in voting, or time arranged with the employer. Companion bills pending in the Legislature (S 417 / A 3286) would create a two-hour paid voting-leave right, but they are not yet law.
Ask Ezel about your situation
This is the general rule in New Jersey. Ezel applies current New Jersey law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | No general private-employer voting-leave statute; N.J.S.A. 19:34-27 bars employer coercion of an employee's vote. Pending 2026 bills S 417 / A 3286 would add paid leave |
|---|---|
| Eligible workers and elections | No statutory time-off right; § 19:34-27 protects any employee from employer coercion 'at any election' |
| Outside-work-hours test | N/A No leave statute, so no outside-work-hours test exists |
| Time-off amount | No statutory amount; New Jersey grants no voting time-off entitlement |
| Paid or unpaid | N/A No statutory voting leave to pay |
| When leave is taken | N/A No statutory leave to schedule |
| Employee notice and employer posting | N/A No statutory employee-notice or employer-posting duty |
| Protection and penalties | Employer may not use or threaten force, violence, restraint, injury, damage, harm or loss, or use duress or improper influence, to compel or punish an employee's vote; a violation is a crime of the third degree (§ 19:34-27) |
Compare this rule across all 50 states + DC →
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).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
Get the answer for your situation
You just read how New Jersey handles this in general. Ezel applies current New Jersey law to your facts and answers your specific question, with citations.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer cites the authority it relies on.