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Revision date of this archived policy: April 1, 2006

Note: This is not a current version of the policy. View current version. »

Purpose
Any employee, who is eligible to vote in national, state or local elections, is encouraged to exercise those voting privileges. Work schedules normally permit adequate time for an employee to vote, either before or after normal working hours.

Policy
1) In cases where voting cannot be accomplished in off duty-hours, the University shall grant an employee time off to vote in consideration of provisions of Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) 118.035(2) as follows:

“Any person entitled to vote at any election in this state shall, if he has made application for leave prior to the day of election, be entitled to absent himself from any services or employment in which he is engaged or employed for a period of four (4) hours on the day of the election, between the time of opening and closing of the polls. Such person shall not, because of so absenting himself, be liable to penalty. The employer may specify the hours during which the employee may absent himself. No person shall refuse an employee the privilege hereby conferred, or discharge or threaten to discharge an employee or subject an employee to a penalty, because of the exercise of the privilege.”

2) An employee with a full-time equivalent (FTE) of 0.5 or greater, requesting time off to vote, will receive time off with pay, not to exceed four hours.

3) An employee with a FTE of 0.5 or greater who accepts a position as an election official must use accrued vacation leave for that absence.

Process
The department head is responsible for receiving requests for time off to vote and scheduling the appropriate time off.

1) An employee requesting time off to vote normally shall submit a request to the department head at least five working days in advance of the election.

2) Upon receipt of the request, the department head shall normally schedule the time off and notify the employee of the revised work schedule at least three working days in advance of the election.

3) An employee with a FTE of 0.5 or greater who does not submit the request within the required time frame shall normally receive time off to vote without pay.