I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7489 
To provide employees with a minimum of two consecutive hours of paid 
leave in order to vote in Federal elections. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 11, 2022 
Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mrs. BUSTOS, Ms. CLARKE 
of New York, Mr. COHEN, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. GRIJALVA, 
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, 
Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. NORTON, Ms. PORTER, Ms. ROYBAL- 
ALLARD, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. WILLIAMS of 
Georgia, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. 
EVANS, Ms. TITUS, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. OMAR, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. LEE 
of California, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. CARSON, Ms. SEWELL, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, 
Mrs. 
WATSON
COLEMAN, 
Mrs. 
CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, 
Mr. 
LOWENTHAL, Mr. JONES, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, and 
Mr. SAN NICOLAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To provide employees with a minimum of two consecutive 
hours of paid leave in order to vote in Federal elections. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives 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’’. 
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SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT FOR TWO HOURS PAID LEAVE TO 
VOTE IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS. 
(a) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE LEAVE.—Upon the 
request of an employee, an employer shall provide to each 
employee a minimum of two consecutive hours of paid 
leave on the day of any Federal election in order to vote. 
(b) EMPLOYER RIGHT TO DETERMINE TWO-HOUR 
PERIOD.—For each employee taking leave under sub-
section (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 two-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 em-
ployment 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 inter-
fere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of or the at-
tempt to exercise, the right to take leave under this 
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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 dis-
criminate 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 infor-
mation in connection with any inquiry or pro-
ceeding 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 subsection 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 re-
quirements of section 106 of such Act shall apply to em-
ployers under this subsection in the same manner as such 
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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 ex-
ceed $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 recov-
ered 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 of-
fice. 
(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In assessing a civil pen-
alty under this Act, the Secretary shall give due con-
sideration 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); and 
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