Mass. House advancing bill requiring employers to give time off on Election Day

Employers would be required to provide their workers “sufficient time” off to vote in person on Election Day in a state or municipal election under legislation the House started advancing Thursday morning.

In a rare December movement, the House’s budget-writing committee opened a poll of its members on the legislation originally sponsored by Rep. John Lawn, a Democrat, and Sen. Brendan Crighton, a Lynn Democrat.

If a voter does not have sufficient time outside of working hours to vote in person during an election or designated earlier voting period, the person may use paid time off to vote on Election Day, the bill said. The employee must give their employer at least three business day’s notice.

An employer is barred from requiring workers to vote by mail or during an early voting period. A company that violates the proposed law by not giving “sufficient time off to vote” must pay an employee a “full day’s pay,” the bill said.

Employee time off for voting must be at the beginning or end of the employee’s regular working hours, “whichever allows the most time for voting and the least time off from regular working hours,” according to the bill.

The House was scheduled to meet at 11 a.m. in an informal session, where debate and recorded votes are not typical. The Senate also had a session scheduled to start at 11 a.m. Thursday.

This is a developing story…