HOUSE BILL NO. 6000

July 23, 2020, Introduced by Reps. Guerra, Brenda Carter, Kennedy, Hood, Tyrone Carter and Wittenberg and referred to the Committee on Elections and Ethics.

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. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "voting leave act".

Sec. 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.

Sec. 3. (1) An employer shall allow each of its employees who does not have 3 or more consecutive nonworking hours 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 is not required to grant an employee more than 2 hours of paid leave under this section for each election day.

(2) An employee must request to take leave under subsection (1) at least 1 business day before the applicable election day.

Sec. 4. (1) An employer shall not take a 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.