December 6, 2018, Introduced by Reps. Wittenberg, Hammoud, Hertel, Clemente, Lasinski, Gay-Dagnogo, Geiss, Greig and Camilleri and referred to the Committee on Commerce and Trade.
A bill to require employers to provide leave for employees to
vote; to provide the conditions for granting the leave; to prohibit
discrimination against employees who request or use the leave; and
to provide for remedies for a violation of the act.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1. (1) This act shall be known and may be cited as the
"voting leave act".
(2) As used in this act:
(a) "Election" means an election regulated under the Michigan
election law, 1954 PA 116, MCL 168.1 to 168.992.
(b) "Employer" means an individual or entity, including this
state and a political subdivision of this state, that employs 1 or
more full-time employees.
(3) An employer shall allow each of its employees who does not
have 2 continuous hours off duty during the time that polls are
open to request and take an amount of leave necessary for the
purpose of voting in an election. An employer shall not grant an
employee more than 2 hours of paid leave for each election day.
(4) An employee who takes leave under this act shall provide
his or her employer proof that the employee voted or attempted to
vote. The proof must be on a form prescribed by the secretary of
state.
Sec. 2. (1) An employer shall not take retaliatory personnel
action or discriminate against an employee because the employee has
exercised a right provided by this act.
(2) An employee may bring a civil action against an employer
who violates the employee's rights provided by this act and may
recover the greater of the employee's actual damages or $500.00 for
each violation.
Enacting section 1. This act takes effect 90 days after the
date it is enacted into law.