Family and Medical Leave Clarification Act

Summary: Family and Medical Leave Clarification Act - Amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) to revise the definition of serious health condition to: (1) exclude from FMLA coverage a short-term illness, injury, impairment, or condition for which treatment and recovery are very brief; and (2) include a list of examples of types of illnesses, injuries, impairments, and physical or mental conditions to be covered under FMLA. 
Allows employers to require that intermittent leave be taken in minimum blocks of four hours. 
Requires employees to: (1) request leave be designated as FMLA leave; (2) provide written application within five working days of providing notice to the employer for foreseeable leave; and (3) with respect to unforeseeable leave, to provide, at a minimum, oral notification of the need for the leave not later than the date the leave commences, unless the employee is physically or mentally incapable of providing notice or submitting the application. 
Permits employers to require employees to choose between taking unpaid leave provided by the FMLA or paid absence under an employer's collective bargaining agreement or other sick leave, sick pay, or disability plan, program, or policy of the employer. 
Directs the Secretary of Labor to review all existing regulations for implementing FMLA, and to issue new regulations revised to reflect the amendments made by this Act.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Family and Medical 
Leave Clarification Act''.
    (b) References.--Except as otherwise expressly provided, wherever 
in this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an 
amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference 
shall be considered to be made to a section or other provision of the 
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.).
    (c) Table of Contents.--The table of contents is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; references; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Definition of serious health condition.
Sec. 4. Intermittent leave.
Sec. 5. Request for leave.
Sec. 6. Substitution of paid leave.
Sec. 7. Regulations.
Sec. 8. Effective date.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (referred to 
        in this section as the ``Act'') is not working as Congress 
        intended when Congress passed the Act in 1993. Many employers, 
        including those employers that are nationally recognized as 
        having generous family-friendly benefit and leave programs, are 
        experiencing serious problems complying with the Act.
            (2) The Department of Labor's overly broad regulations and 
        interpretations have caused many of these problems by greatly 
        expanding the Act's coverage to apply to many nonserious health 
        conditions.
            (3) Documented problems generated by the Act include 
        significant new administrative and personnel costs, loss of 
        productivity and scheduling difficulties, unnecessary paperwork 
        and recordkeeping, and other compliance problems.
            (4) The Act often conflicts with employers' paid sick leave 
        policies, prevents employers from managing absences through 
        their absence control plans, and results in most leave under 
        the Act becoming paid leave.
            (5) The Commission on Leave, established in title III of 
        the Act (29 U.S.C. 2631 et seq.), which reported few 
        difficulties with compliance with the Act, failed to identify 
        many of the problems with compliance because the study on which 
        the report was based was conducted too soon after the date of 
        enactment of the Act and the most significant problems with 
        compliance arose only when employers later sought to comply 
        with the Act's final regulations and interpretations.

SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF SERIOUS HEALTH CONDITION.

    Section 101(11) (29 U.S.C. 2611(11)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as clauses 
        (i) and (ii), respectively;
            (2) by aligning the margins of those clauses with the 
        margins of clause (i) of paragraph (4)(A);
            (3) by inserting before ``The'' the following:
                    ``(A) In general.--''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) Exclusions.--The term does not include a 
                short-term illness, injury, impairment, or condition 
                for which treatment and recovery are very brief.
                    ``(C) Examples.--The term includes an illness, 
                injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition 
                such as a heart attack, a heart condition requiring 
                extensive therapy or a surgical procedure, a stroke, a 
                severe respiratory condition, a spinal injury, 
                appendicitis, pneumonia, emphysema, severe arthritis, a 
                severe nervous disorder, an injury caused by a serious 
                accident on or off the job, an ongoing pregnancy, a 
                miscarriage, a complication or illness related to 
                pregnancy, such as severe morning sickness, a need for 
                prenatal care, childbirth, and recovery from 
                childbirth, that involves care or treatment described 
                in subparagraph (A).''.

SEC. 4. INTERMITTENT LEAVE.

    Section 102(b)(1) (29 U.S.C. 2612(b)(1)) is amended by striking the 
period at the end of the second sentence and inserting the following: 
``, as certified under section 103 by the health care provider after 
each leave occurrence. An employer may require an employee to take 
intermittent leave in increments of up to \1/2\ of a workday. An 
employer may require an employee who travels as part of the normal day-
to-day work or duty assignment of the employee and who requests 
intermittent leave or leave on a reduced schedule to take leave for the 
duration of that work or assignment if the employer cannot reasonably 
accommodate the employee's request.''.

SEC. 5. REQUEST FOR LEAVE.

    Section 102(e) (29 U.S.C. 2612(e)) is amended by inserting after 
paragraph (2) the following:
            ``(3) Request for leave.--If an employer does not exercise, 
        under subsection (d)(2), the right to require an employee to 
        substitute other employer-provided leave for leave under this 
        title, the employer may require the employee who wants leave 
        under this title to request the leave in a timely manner. If an 
        employer requires a timely request under this paragraph, an 
        employee who fails to make a timely request may be denied leave 
        under this title.
            ``(4) Timeliness of request for leave.--For purposes of 
        paragraph (3), a request for leave shall be considered to be 
        timely if--
                    ``(A) in the case of foreseeable leave, the 
                employee--
                            ``(i) provides the applicable advance 
                        notice required by paragraphs (1) and (2); and
                            ``(ii) submits any written application 
                        required by the employer for the leave not 
                        later than 5 working days after providing the 
                        notice to the employer; and
                    ``(B) in the case of unforeseeable leave, the 
                employee--
                            ``(i) notifies the employer orally of the 
                        need for the leave--
                                    ``(I) not later than the date the 
                                leave commences; or
                                    ``(II) during such additional 
                                period as may be necessary, if the 
                                employee is physically or mentally 
                                incapable of providing the 
                                notification; and
                            ``(ii) submits any written application 
                        required by the employer for the leave--
                                    ``(I) not later than 5 working days 
                                after providing the notice to the 
                                employer; or
                                    ``(II) during such additional 
                                period as may be necessary, if the 
                                employee is physically or mentally 
                                incapable of submitting the 
                                application.''.

SEC. 6. SUBSTITUTION OF PAID LEAVE.

    Section 102(d)(2) (29 U.S.C. 2612(d)(2)) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:
                    ``(C) Paid absence.--Notwithstanding subparagraphs 
                (A) and (B), with respect to leave provided under 
                subparagraph (D) of subsection (a)(1), where an 
                employer provides a paid absence under the employer's 
                collective bargaining agreement, a welfare benefit plan 
                under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 
                1974 (29 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), or under any other sick 
                leave, sick pay, or disability plan, program, or policy 
                of the employer, the employer may require the employee 
                to choose between the paid absence and unpaid leave 
                provided under this title.''.

SEC. 7. REGULATIONS.

    (a) Existing Regulations.--
            (1) Review.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall review all 
        regulations issued before that date to implement the Family and 
        Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.), including 
        the regulations published in sections 825.114 and 825.115 of 
        title 29, Code of Federal Regulations.
            (2) Termination.--The regulations, and opinion letters 
        promulgated under the regulations, shall cease to be effective 
        on the effective date of final regulations issued under 
        subsection (b)(2)(B), except as described in subsection (c).
    (b) Revised Regulations.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Labor shall issue revised 
        regulations implementing the Family and Medical Leave Act of 
        1993 that reflect the amendments made by this Act.
            (2) New regulations.--The Secretary of Labor shall issue--
                    (A) proposed regulations described in paragraph (1) 
                not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of 
                this Act; and
                    (B) final regulations described in paragraph (1) 
                not later than 180 days after that date of enactment.
            (3) Effective date.--The final regulations take effect 90 
        days after the date on which the regulations are issued.
    (c) Transition.--The regulations described in subsection (a) shall 
apply to actions taken by an employer prior to the effective date of 
final regulations issued under subsection (b)(2)(B), with respect to 
leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.

SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 180 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act.