Making Time for Election Day

Election Day is coming up soon in the United States, however, not all States categorize November 5th in the same way. In this episode, you'll discover how to update your calendar to include an additional holiday, and how to best support your employees as a company on that day.

There are plenty of resources in the UKG Community on how to add holidays into your solution, but here's a few links to resources that can get you started Pro, Ready, and Pro WFM.

Transcript

Welcome back to the Working Smarter Café. I’m your host, Savannah Guenthner, and today we’re talking Election Day. November 5th is coming up quickly, and in less than two weeks, it’ll be time to vote in the United States. Both companies and States have diverse ways of handling the logistics, which means payroll admins have to keep these next factors in mind. Is it a holiday in your state, and are you guaranteed paid time off? And how does HR fit into this puzzle? We’ll answer all this and more this morning while you get your day started.

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If you’re based in Hawaii, Illinois, West Virginia, Maryland, or New York, November 5th is a state holiday. You’ll have plenty of time to contemplate your vote and make it to the polls while still earning paid time off. 

Election Day is also a holiday in Louisiana, Montana, Michigan, Virginia, Kentucky, Delaware, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Indiana. However, your employer is not required to pay you for the time you take off to vote in these states.

In most states, Election Day is not considered a holiday. But some do still offer paid time off for you to step out and vote on the fifth including Alaska, California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, and Tennessee. 

If you’re based in one of the following states, your options are somewhat more limited; Washington State, Washington D.C., Oregon, Idaho, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Massachusetts all do not require time off for Election Day or offer the day holiday status. 

If you are an admin for your company’s UKG solution, it’s easy to set up an extra holiday in the calendar. This is an option if you are in a state that classifies Election Day as a holiday, if you have employees in a state that views this day as a holiday, or if your company has independently decided to count it as one. As a general rule of thumb, you should add a holiday to your company’s calendar if over 50 percent of pay groups are affected by that holiday. Whenever possible, holidays should be added prior to extending the pay calendar for the upcoming year. But if you’re adding a holiday mid-year, have your pay dates reviewed by admins and modified if needed. 

For more specifics on how to set up a holiday in your Solution, check out the links featured in the show notes. Thanks so much for tuning in, we hope you found this episode helpful and informative. Until next time, I’m Savannah and this was the Working Smarter Cafe. Bye.

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