Time Off to Vote Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 882 To provide employees with 2 hours of paid leave in order to vote in Federal elections. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 30, 2019 Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. CASE, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KELLY of Illi- nois, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. MENG, Mr. MCNERNEY, Ms. MOORE, Ms. MUCARSEL-POWELL, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OMAR, Mr. POCAN, Ms. POR- TER, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. SCHA- KOWSKY, Mr. GALLEGO, and Mrs. MCBATH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To provide employees with 2 hours of paid leave in order to vote in Federal elections. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Time Off to Vote Act’’. 4 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H882.IH H882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 882 IH SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT FOR 2 HOURS PAID LEAVE TO VOTE 1 IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS. 2 (a) ENTITLEMENT TO LEAVE.—An employee shall be 3 entitled to 2 hours of paid leave on the day of any Federal 4 election in order to vote. 5 (b) EMPLOYER RIGHT TO DETERMINE 2-HOUR PE- 6 RIOD.—For each employee taking leave under subsection 7 (a), the employer of such employee may designate the 2- 8 hour period during which the employee may take leave. 9 Any lunch break or other break period may not be in- 10 cluded in the 2-hour period designated for leave. 11 (c) NO LOSS OF BENEFITS.—The taking of leave 12 under this section shall not result in the loss of any em- 13 ployment benefit accrued prior to the date on which the 14 leave was taken. 15 (d) PROHIBITED ACTS.— 16 (1) INTERFERENCE WITH RIGHTS UNDER THIS 17 ACT.—It shall be unlawful for any employer to inter- 18 fere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of or the at- 19 tempt to exercise, the right to take leave under this 20 Act, or to discriminate against an employee in any 21 manner for taking leave under this Act. 22 (2) RETALIATION.—It shall be unlawful for any 23 employer to discharge or in any other manner dis- 24 criminate against any individual for— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H882.IH H882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 882 IH (A) opposing any practice made unlawful 1 by this section; 2 (B) filing any charge, or instituting or 3 causing to be instituted any proceeding, under 4 or related to this section; 5 (C) giving or preparing to give any infor- 6 mation in connection with any inquiry or pro- 7 ceeding relating to any leave provided under 8 this section; or 9 (D) testifying or preparing to testify in 10 any inquiry or proceeding relating to any leave 11 provided under this section. 12 (e) INVESTIGATIVE AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of 13 Labor shall have investigative authority with respect to the 14 provisions of this subsection in the same manner and 15 under the same terms and conditions as the investigative 16 authority provided under section 106 of the Family and 17 Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2616), and the re- 18 quirements of section 106 of such Act shall apply to em- 19 ployers under this subsection in the same manner as such 20 requirements apply to employers under section 106 of such 21 Act. 22 (f) ENFORCEMENT.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any employer that violates 24 this Act may be subject to a civil penalty not to ex- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H882.IH H882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 882 IH ceed $10,000 per violation. Civil penalties shall be 1 assessed by and paid to the Secretary of Labor for 2 deposit into the Treasury of the United States and 3 shall accrue to the United States and may be recov- 4 ered in a civil action in the name of the United 5 States brought in the United States district court 6 for the district where the violation is alleged to have 7 occurred or where the employer has its principal of- 8 fice. 9 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In assessing a civil pen- 10 alty under this Act, the Secretary shall give due con- 11 sideration to the appropriateness of the penalty with 12 respect to the size of the business of the employer 13 being charged, the gravity of the violation, the good 14 faith of the employer, and the history of previous 15 violations. 16 (g) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this Act— 17 (1) the term ‘‘employee’’ has the meaning given 18 such term in section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards 19 Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203); and 20 (2) the term ‘‘employer’’ means any person en- 21 gaged in commerce or in any industry or activity af- 22 fecting commerce who employs 25 or more employ- 23 ees during a calendar year, and includes any person 24 who acts, directly or indirectly, in the interest of an 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H882.IH H882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 882 IH employer to any of the employees of such employer 1 and any successor in interest of an employer. In the 2 previous sentence, the terms ‘‘commerce’’ and ‘‘in- 3 dustry or activity affecting commerce’’ have the 4 meaning given such terms in section 101(1) of the 5 Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. 6 (h) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 7 beginning with the first Federal election held after the 8 date of enactment of this Act. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H882.IH H882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS