Sponsors (18)
The bill makes it substantially easier for many workers to vote by granting a paid, two-hour leave and protections backed by enforcement, at the cost of new compliance, administrative burdens, and potential financial impacts on employers — while leaving employees of very small employers without a federal guarantee.
Employees at covered workplaces (generally those employed by firms with 25 or more employees) receive at least two consecutive paid hours on Federal election days to vote or perform voting-related tasks, making it easier for many workers and their families to participate in elections.
Employees are protected from employer retaliation and loss of accrued benefits when they take voting leave, and the Department of Labor enforcement tools (investigations and civil penalties) increase the likelihood that employers will comply with the law.
The bill preserves stronger state and local voting-leave protections by not preempting more protective laws, allowing jurisdictions to provide greater employee voting rights than the federal floor.
Employers with 25 or more employees face new direct costs and legal risk — including operational costs to cover short staffing or pay for the two-hour paid leave and potential civil penalties (up to $10,000 per violation) — which could increase costs for small businesses, schools, and other employers.
The law creates administrative and compliance burdens on employers (tracking requests, scheduling leave, documenting compliance), increasing HR and payroll workloads, particularly for small employers with limited administrative capacity.
Employees who work for very small employers (fewer than 25 employees) are excluded from the federal paid voting-leave guarantee and therefore remain without this federal protection.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires employers with 25+ employees engaged in commerce to give workers at least two consecutive hours of paid leave to vote on Federal election days, enforced by the Labor Department with civil penalties.
Introduced July 30, 2025 by Mazie Hirono · Last progress July 30, 2025
Requires employers engaged in commerce that have 25 or more employees to provide, upon an employee's request, at least two consecutive hours of paid leave on any Federal election day while polls or voting sites are open so the employee can vote, return an in-person-mailed ballot, or carry out other voting-related activity. Employers may designate the two-hour window (including directing leave to an early-voting period where allowed), cannot count a lunch or other break toward the two hours, and cannot reduce an employee’s accrued benefits because of the leave. The Department of Labor enforces the rule using existing investigatory authority and may assess civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation; the requirement begins with the first Federal election after the bill becomes law and does not override state or local laws that provide greater protections.