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