Canary Islands grant up to four hours‘ paid leave to vote

Anyone who has to work in the Canary Islands on 29 November is entitled to take up to four hours‘ paid leave to go and vote. Members of the electoral boards and polling station staff are better off: they get a full day’s paid leave, but only the chairpersons, assessors and scrutineers work five hours less the following day, while authorised representatives only get time off on election day itself.

On this day, Spain will hold elections for the Congress of Deputies and the Senate; polling stations will be open from 9 am to 8 pm. The Directorate-General for Labour of the Canary Islands Government has set out how much time off work employees are entitled to in a decision published in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands, which comes into force on Thursday.

Voters who do not have their weekly day off on polling day and who work, at least in part, between 9 am and 8 pm are entitled to time off work. The length of time they are granted off depends on a sliding scale.

Canary Islands: Shift patterns determine the amount of paid leave granted for voting

The key factor is how many hours of the shift fall within the polling stations‘ opening hours. If this amounts to fewer than two hours, there is no paid time off. Otherwise, the following rule applies:

• at least two but fewer than four hours of overlap: two hours off
• at least four but fewer than six hours: three hours off
• six hours or more: four hours off

Part-time staff are entitled to a correspondingly smaller number of hours off, in proportion to their working hours compared with those of full-time staff at the same workplace. The employer determines when these hours off are to be taken, depending on how work is organised.

Presidents, polling officers and election assistants are only granted the whole day off if they do not already have a day off on that particular day. Anyone who has difficulty voting in person on polling day may use up to four hours to apply for a polling card.