119-s2549

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2549 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 2549

 To provide employees with a minimum of 2 consecutive hours of paid 
 leave in order to vote in Federal elections.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 July 30, 2025

 Ms. Hirono (for herself, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Mr. 
Booker, Mr. Coons, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Gallego, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Kaine, 
 Mr. Merkley, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Reed, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. 
 Warren, Mr. Welch, Mr. Whitehouse, and Mr. Wyden) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To provide employees with a minimum of 2 consecutive hours of paid 
 leave in order to vote in Federal elections.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Time Off to Vote Act''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT FOR 2 HOURS PAID LEAVE TO VOTE IN FEDERAL 
 ELECTIONS.

    (a) Requirement To Provide Leave.--Upon the request of an employee, 
an employer shall provide to the employee a minimum of 2 consecutive 
hours of paid leave on a day of any Federal election, while polls or 
sites that facilitate voting-related activity are open, in order to 
vote, return in person a ballot that was received in the mail, or 
perform other voting-related activity.

    (b) Employer Right To Determine Two-Hour Period.--For each employee 
taking leave under subsection

    (a) , the employer of such employee may 
specify the hours during which the employee may take such leave, 
including by requiring that the employee take the leave during a period 
designated for early voting instead of on the day of the election, as 
applicable under State law. Any lunch break or other break period may 
not be included in the 2-hour period designated for leave, but may be 
taken consecutively with the 2-hour period described in subsection

    (a) .
            (c) No Loss of Benefits.--The taking of leave under this section 
shall not result in the loss of any employment benefit accrued prior to 
the date on which the leave was taken.
            (d) Prohibited Acts.--

    (1) Interference with rights under this act.--It shall be 
 unlawful for any employer to interfere with, restrain, or deny 
 the exercise of or the attempt to exercise, the right to take 
 leave under this Act, or to discriminate against an employee in 
 any manner for taking leave under this Act.

    (2) Retaliation.--It shall be unlawful for any employer to 
 discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any 
 individual for--
        (A) opposing any practice made unlawful by this 
 section;
        (B) filing any charge, or instituting or causing to 
 be instituted any proceeding, under or related to this 
 section;
            (C) giving or preparing to give any information in 
 connection with any inquiry or proceeding relating to 
 any leave provided under this section; or
            (D) testifying or preparing to testify in any 
 inquiry or proceeding relating to any leave provided 
 under this section.

    (e) Investigative Authority.--The Secretary of Labor shall have 
investigative authority with respect to the provisions of this section 
in the same manner and under the same terms and conditions as the 
investigative authority provided under 

section 106 of the Family and 
Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2616), and the requirements of 

section 106 of such Act shall apply to employers under this section in 
the same manner as such requirements apply to employers under 

section 106 of such Act.

    (f) Enforcement.--

    (1) In general.--Any employer that violates this Act may be 
 subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $10,000 per violation. 
 Civil penalties shall be assessed by and paid to the Secretary 
 of Labor for deposit into the Treasury of the United States and 
 shall accrue to the United States and may be recovered in a 
 civil action in the name of the United States brought in the 
 United States district court for the district where the 
 violation is alleged to have occurred or where the employer has 
 its principal office.

    (2) Considerations.--In assessing a civil penalty under 
 this Act, the Secretary shall give due consideration to the 
 appropriateness of the penalty with respect to the size of the 
 business of the employer being charged, the gravity of the 
 violation, the good faith of the employer, and the history of 
 previous violations.

    (g) 

=== Definitions. ===
-As used in this Act:

    (1) The term ``employee'' has the meaning given such term 
 in 

section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 
 203).

    (2) The term ``employer'' means any person engaged in 
 commerce or in any industry or activity affecting commerce who 
 employs 25 or more employees during a calendar year, and 
 includes any person who acts, directly or indirectly, in the 
 interest of an employer to any of the employees of such 
 employer and any successor in interest of an employer. In the 
 previous sentence, the terms ``commerce'' and ``industry or 
 activity affecting commerce'' have the meaning given such terms 
 in 

section 101

    (1) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 
 (29 U.S.C. 2611

    (1) ).

    (h) State and Local Laws.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed 
to supersede any provision of any State or local law that requires an 
employer to provide leave to an employee, for the purpose of voting in 
any Federal, State, or municipal election, in an amount greater than 
that required under this Act, or under terms more beneficial to an 
employee than those provided under this Act.
            (i) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect beginning with 
the first Federal election held after the date of enactment of this 
Act.
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