North Dakota — Leave Laws

North Dakota imposes no state-law requirement that private-sector employers provide paid or unpaid sick leave, vacation leave, or other paid time off. The North Dakota Department of Labor and Human Rights confirms that "no state or federal laws require an employer to provide its employees with PTO." Employers may voluntarily offer these benefits and set their own eligibility, accrual, and usage policies. Private employers in North Dakota rely solely on the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for job-protected unpaid leave obligations, which applies only to covered employers (generally those with 50 or more employees) and eligible employees who meet service and hours-worked thresholds.

Source: North Dakota Department of Labor and Human Rights, Labor and Human Rights FAQ

North Dakota prohibits employers from depriving an employee of employment, laying off, penalizing, threatening, or otherwise coercing an employee because the employee receives a jury summons, responds to it, serves as a juror, or attends court for jury service. Violating this prohibition is a class B misdemeanor, punishable by a fine up to $1,500 or imprisonment up to 30 days. North Dakota does not require private employers to pay employees during jury duty leave; employers may voluntarily offer paid leave or require employees to use unpaid leave. Jurors receive $100 per full day (or $50 for four hours or less on the first day) from the state.

Source: N.D. Cent. Code § 27-09.1-17; North Dakota Courts, Jurors Handbook

North Dakota does not require private employers to provide employees with time off to vote. Instead, N.D. Cent. Code § 16.1-01-02.1 declares a state policy of "encouraging" employers to establish a program granting employees time off to vote when their regular work schedules conflict with polling hours. The statute creates no enforceable right to leave, imposes no penalty for noncompliance, and does not specify whether any voluntarily granted leave must be paid or unpaid.

The full text of the statute reads: "It is the policy of this state to encourage voting by all eligible voters at all statewide special, primary, or general elections. To this end, employers are encouraged to establish a program to grant an employee who is a qualified voter to be absent from the employee's employment for the purpose of voting when an employee's regular work schedule conflicts with voting during time when polls are open."

Key distinguishing features of North Dakota's approach:

• No mandate. Unlike approximately 28 other states (plus D.C.) that require employers to provide voting leave under specified conditions, North Dakota imposes no legal obligation. The statute uses the precatory language "encouraged," not "shall" or "must."

• No employee right. Employees in North Dakota have no statutory right to be absent from work to vote, no right to notice or to designate the timing of leave, and no protection from discipline or discharge for taking time off to vote without employer consent.

• No penalty. The statute contains no misdemeanor provision, no civil penalty, and no private right of action. An employer that declines to establish a voting-leave program violates no North Dakota law.

• No specification of terms. The statute does not address whether leave, if voluntarily granted, must be paid; how much time is sufficient; whether the employer may designate the hours; or whether the employee must provide advance notice.

Practical guidance for multi-state employers. Employers with operations in North Dakota and in states that do mandate voting leave (such as neighboring Minnesota, which requires "adequate time" without loss of wages under Minn. Stat. § 204C.04, or South Dakota, which requires two consecutive hours of paid leave under S.D. Codified Laws § 12-3-5) should ensure that their employee handbooks and manager training clearly distinguish between jurisdictions. A blanket national policy granting two hours of paid voting leave will satisfy North Dakota's hortatory statute and eliminate confusion; a North Dakota–only policy denying leave is lawful but may create internal equity concerns if employees see colleagues in adjacent states receiving the benefit.

Comparison to the federal floor. Federal law likewise imposes no general voting-leave requirement for private employers. North Dakota's statute adds state-level encouragement but no enforceable overlay.

Source: N.D. Cent. Code § 16.1-01-02.1