Employment and pensions

Workers entitlement to time off to vote in the elections of the Parliament of Catalonia on 21 December 2017

Published on 8th Nov 2017

On 3 November 2017, Royal Decree 953/2017 of 31 October came into force, by which complementary rules are established for the 2017 elections of the Parliament of Catalonia, including workers entitlement to time off to vote on 21 December.

This issue is particularly relevant given that, unlike other occasions, the elections are being held on a working day.

To guarantee the right to vote of all of the workers who are required to work on 21 December, this regulation establishes the obligation of companies to grant paid non-recoverable leave of up to four hours to each worker in the corresponding working day.

If any workers who are required to work on 21 December have been appointed as polling point officers or auditors of the polling stations, they will be entitled to paid non-recoverable leave for the whole of 21 December and for the first five hours of the working day immediately following the election day.

Workers who have a day’s leave on the election day and have been appointed as polling point officers or auditors are entitled to paid leave for the first five hours of the working day immediately following the election day.

In addition, workers who can prove their status as proxies and do not have a day’s leave on the election day are entitled to paid leave for the whole of 21 December.

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* This article is current as of the date of its publication and does not necessarily reflect the present state of the law or relevant regulation.

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