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 Illinois, 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. PORTER, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Time Off to Vote Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT FOR 2 HOURS PAID LEAVE TO VOTE 

2 IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS. 

3 (a) ENTITLEMENT TO LEAVE.—An employee shall be 

4 entitled to 2 hours of paid leave on the day of any Federal 

5 election in order to vote. 

6 (b) EMPLOYER RIGHT TO DETERMINE 2-HOUR PE7 RIOD.—For each employee taking leave under subsection 

8 (a), the employer of such employee may designate the 2- 

9 hour period during which the employee may take leave. 

10 Any lunch break or other break period may not be in11 cluded in the 2-hour period designated for leave. 

12 (c) NO LOSS OF BENEFITS.—The taking of leave 

13 under this section shall not result in the loss of any em14 ployment benefit accrued prior to the date on which the 

15 leave was taken. 

16 (d) PROHIBITED ACTS.— 

17 (1) INTERFERENCE WITH RIGHTS UNDER THIS

18 ACT.—It shall be unlawful for any employer to inter19 fere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of or the at20 tempt to exercise, the right to take leave under this 

21 Act, or to discriminate against an employee in any 

22 manner for taking leave under this Act. 

23 (2) RETALIATION.—It shall be unlawful for any 

24 employer to discharge or in any other manner dis25 criminate against any individual for— 


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1 (A) opposing any practice made unlawful 

2 by this section; 

3 (B) filing any charge, or instituting or 

4 causing to be instituted any proceeding, under 

5 or related to this section; 

6 (C) giving or preparing to give any infor7 mation in connection with any inquiry or pro8 ceeding relating to any leave provided under 

9 this section; or 

10 (D) testifying or preparing to testify in 

11 any inquiry or proceeding relating to any leave 

12 provided under this section. 

13 (e) INVESTIGATIVE AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of 

14 Labor shall have investigative authority with respect to the 

15 provisions of this subsection in the same manner and 

16 under the same terms and conditions as the investigative 

17 authority provided under section 106 of the Family and 

18 Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2616), and the re19 quirements of section 106 of such Act shall apply to em20 ployers under this subsection in the same manner as such 

21 requirements apply to employers under section 106 of such 

22 Act. 

23 (f) ENFORCEMENT.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any employer that violates 

25 this Act may be subject to a civil penalty not to exVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H882.IH H882

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1 ceed $10,000 per violation. Civil penalties shall be 

2 assessed by and paid to the Secretary of Labor for 

3 deposit into the Treasury of the United States and 

4 shall accrue to the United States and may be recov5 ered in a civil action in the name of the United 

6 States brought in the United States district court 

7 for the district where the violation is alleged to have 

8 occurred or where the employer has its principal of9 fice. 

10 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In assessing a civil pen11 alty under this Act, the Secretary shall give due con12 sideration to the appropriateness of the penalty with 

13 respect to the size of the business of the employer 

14 being charged, the gravity of the violation, the good 

15 faith of the employer, and the history of previous 

16 violations. 

17 (g) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this Act— 

18 (1) the term ‘‘employee’’ has the meaning given 

19 such term in section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards 

20 Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203); and 

21 (2) the term ‘‘employer’’ means any person en22 gaged in commerce or in any industry or activity af23 fecting commerce who employs 25 or more employ24 ees during a calendar year, and includes any person 

25 who acts, directly or indirectly, in the interest of an 


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1 employer to any of the employees of such employer 

2 and any successor in interest of an employer. In the 

3 previous sentence, the terms ‘‘commerce’’ and ‘‘in4 dustry or activity affecting commerce’’ have the 

5 meaning given such terms in section 101(1) of the 

6 Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. 

7 (h) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

8 beginning with the first Federal election held after the 

9 date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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