Texas Attorney General Opinion: M-53 Page: 2 of 4
4 p.View a full description of this text.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Hon. Charles H. King, Jr., page 2 (M-53 )
application. In Attorney General's Opinion V-1532 (1952), this
office held that an employer is not required to give an employee
time off to vote where the employee has sufficient time to vote
outside his working hours. If an employee does not have suffi-
cient time to vote outside his working hours, it would be a
violation of the statute if his employer denies him additional
time as is necessary for exercising his privilege of attending
the polls. Sufficiency of time was held to be a question of
fact depending upon the circumstances in each particular case.
In light of this holding, if the employee under the facts
stated in your opinion request had sufficient time to vote
outside his working hours, the employer would not be required to
allow the employee to leave his employment for the purpose of
voting.
Should the employee not have sufficient time to vote
outside his working hours, the employer normally would be required
to permit the employee sufficient time off to attend the polls
without any deduction of wages because of the exercise of that
privilege. Attorney General's Opinion V-1532 (1952). However,
under the stated facts the employee would have had sufficient
time to vote after he had completed his normal working hours at
4:00 p.m., and the employer would not have committed a violation
of the statute had he refused to give such employee time off to
vote during his normal work period. Since the employee was not
being required to work beyond 4:00 p.m., he was free thereafter
to exercise his freedom of choice to vote or not to vote. There-
fore, it is the opinion of this office that, when the employee
voluntarily requested to be permitted to work overtime hours
beyond 4:00 p.m., he elected to work such additional hours as
the employer deemed necessary in providing him the opportunity.
In making such election the employee exercised his freedom of
choice of attending or not attending the polls, which is the
right created by the statute. The employer has not denied the
employee the privilege of voting because unquestionably the em-
ployee had that right until, by his own action, he relinquished
it by requesting the overtime work for his own pecuniary
benefit, instead of using this time to exercise his privilege of
voting. In making his election the employee has accepted the
privilege of working the additional hours on the terms and
conditions offered by the employer, and should not thereafter
be allowed to revoke his action as the employer has the right to
rely upon this acceptance in planning his work schedule, production
requirements and employee complement necessary for the overtime
period, To hold otherwise would create an undue burden on the
employer if he were faced with the possibility of his work force
abandoning the job after he had planned his work schedule, based
upon the employees' assurance that they would be available and
working.
- 243 -
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This text can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Text.
Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: M-53, text, April 7, 1967; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth269271/m1/2/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.