Conflicting official advice on ‘time off to vote’ raises concerns

Does advance voting mean employees no longer have the right to leave work to do their democratic duty on election day? Depends who you ask.

For more than a century, employers in New Zealand have been legally required to give anyone working on election day time off to vote. A 1908 law went as far as decreeing that factories, shops and offices must close for half a day to ensure workers had the opportunity to exercise their democratic right.

This half-day holiday requirement was later removed, but over the decades employers have been legally bound to let employees leave to vote, without deducting their pay. The Electoral Act 1956 decreed that people working on election day could leave at 3pm if their work day started too early to get to the polls beforehand, and the provision was retained in Section 162 of the Electoral Act 1993, which (rather wordily) sets it out:

“... on the polling day at any election every employer shall allow every worker in his or her employment … and who has not had a reasonable opportunity of voting before commencing work, to leave his or her work for the purpose of voting not later than 3 o’clock in the afternoon for the remainder of the day, and it shall not be lawful for any employer to make any deduction from any remuneration payable to any such worker in respect of any time after the time of his or her leaving his or her work as aforesaid”.

Voting places in New Zealand are open from 9am to 7pm on election day, so in practice, unless you start work later in the morning, you’re allowed to finish up at 3pm in order to go cast your vote. (Essential workers may be required to return to work after 3pm, but must be allowed up to two hours to vote.)

In recent years, however, the rise of advance voting has shaken up how we do democracy. The first election where voters were allowed to get in early without having to give a reason was 2011, and since 2020, more people have voted in advance than on the day itself.

So should those of us working next Saturday still be granted this statutory right given that, in theory, we could have headed to the polling booth at any point in the preceding two weeks? According to the Employment New Zealand website run by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), no. “An employer must give their employees time off to vote in general (parliamentary) elections on polling day if … they have not had a reasonable opportunity to vote before starting work or in advance of polling day.”

Or in advance of polling day. Well that’s that then. But wait… According to the Electoral Commission’s vote.nz site, “If you haven’t had a reasonable chance to vote before starting work on election day… your employer must let you leave work to vote by 3pm. You’re legally allowed to be away from work for the rest of the day if you need that time to vote.”

There’s a notable omission of “in advance of polling day” in the Electoral Commission’s advice. David Buckingham, an employment relations consultant based in Queenstown, noticed the discrepancy and sounded the alarm. “When two government agencies are giving advice that appears to be contradictory, I think that we owe it to our employers and employees to have that cleared up and be able to have reliability of that advice,” he tells The Spinoff.

Buckingham is concerned that employers might use Employment NZ’s advice to refuse an employee’s request to vote on election day by deciding they could have done so during the advance voting period. A boss might say, “No way, you should have done it on your day off on Tuesday,” for example.  

People should be able to take their time to make a decision on who to vote for, says Buckingham. “I know the dynamics of employers and employees having those discussions, and I don't want a young person or a vulnerable worker who wants to take their time off to vote to not be able to take that time off at 3 o'clock and do what they need to do.”

The 2023 Independent Electoral Review did consider whether the provisions requiring employers to allow workers to have time off to vote on election day should be removed, but decided against it. “Our initial view was that these provisions could be removed as most people would be able to vote at some point during advance voting,” said the review’s final report. “We heard strong feedback from unions that these provisions should be retained. Their reasons included that some people may not decide how to vote in advance or may not be aware that advance voting is available. They pointed out that voting on election day may be more accessible and convenient, given there may be fewer polling places during advance voting.”

Given that, and the fact the Employment NZ web page was updated as recently as July 2026, “I would have hoped it would have been more thoroughly set out,” says Buckingham. “It was really clear that there was strong pushback for removing 162, and it was really clear that it was intended that people be able to vote on election day.”

The Spinoff contacted the Electoral Commission about the conflicting advice, and chief electoral officer Karl le Quesne's response was conclusive: “The Electoral Commission's view is the Electoral Act 1993 (section 162) does protect the opportunity to vote on election day itself, if an employee hasn't had a reasonable opportunity to vote on election day before starting work. This protection stands even if the person could have voted in advance of election day."

The commission told Buckingham it had contacted Employment NZ to share Buckingham’s email and its own response, “so that they can consider the matter”.

The Spinoff has contacted MBIE for comment.