A friend who lives in north New Jersey got this letter today...
WTF? Yeah, yeah, civic duty, democratic process, yada, yada, yada. But one day a week for twenty fucking weeks? Most people have to work for a living. Even if she was working nights, with the traffic it's still a couple hours drive each way.
There's probably a law saying your boss can't fire you for missing the time, but I doubt there's a law that says he has to pay you. And just because he can't
legally fire you, doesn't mean he can't be vengeful in a thousand other ways. Bad performance reviews, no raises or promotions, rubbing his balls on your coffee cup.
This sucks big time, especially after being unemployed for almost a year, having a heating oil tank leak with a $200k+ proposal from the state for clean up, and several other downers. But those are personal crosses to bear, this has to suck for any working person.