S2208 — An Act establishing Election Day as a holiday and providing paid voting leave

Summary

An Act establishing Election Day as a holiday and providing paid voting leave

Bill Text

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The bill adds Election Day as a legal holiday and establishes provisions for paid leave to vote, while prohibiting employer retaliation against employees using this leave.

• Chapter 4, Section 7

  “Legal holiday” shall also include Election Day, the first Tuesday in November in even-numbered years; provided, however, that observance of said holiday shall not apply to public employees whose jobs pertain to the operation and administration of elections.

  Election Day is recognized as a legal holiday with specific exclusions for public election employees.

• Chapter 149, Section 178

  Section 178. → Paid leave of absence from work for voting. (a) For purposes of this section, the terms ''employer'' and “employee” shall be defined as in section 1 of chapter 175M. (b) An employee who is eligible to vote shall be entitled, upon request, to take 2 hours of paid leave to be used for the purpose of casting a ballot in any annual or special municipal or state primary or election. An employee may elect to take paid voting leave at any point during the early voting or mail voting period provided by law, or on the date of a primary or election. Employees eligible to observe Election Day as a holiday, as defined in the eighteenth clause of section 7 of chapter 4, shall not be entitled to take additional paid leave pursuant to this paragraph for biennial general elections. (c) 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 paid voting leave under this section as a negative factor in any employment action such as evaluation, promotion, disciplinary action or termination, or otherwise subjecting an employee to discipline for the use of paid voting leave under this section.

  Establishes a new section that guarantees paid leave for voting and protects employees from employer retaliation for taking this leave.

Sponsors

• Rebecca L. Rausch · Primary

Subjects