The minimum period granted for a public employee to vote is four hours. Special leave should be granted for a period considered that is sufficient to exercise their franchise sans a reduction in the pay. However, there is no written order enforced for workers in the Private Sector. As such the Elections Chief said that it had been reported in the past that many employers were not granting leave for their workers for this purpose.

The Elections Commissioner stated that it is mandatory to grant a half day’s leave if the employees’ polling booth is situated 40 kilometres in proximity to the voters’ workplace.

An off day should be given if the distance between the polling booth and the workplace is between 40 and 100 kilometress. He further stated that a one and a half day’s leave should be granted to those who have a distance between 100 and 150 kilometres and two days leave for those who exceed a distance of 150 kilometres.

Elections Chief Mahinda Deshapriya stressed that relevant attention must be given to those employees who require three days leave and urged employers to grant such leave accordingly.

Workers should apply in writing for such leave and a list of those who had applied for such leave and the period of leave given should be displayed at the workplace.