II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1304

To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to allow employees

to take school involvement leave to participate in the academic school

activities of their children or to participate in literacy training, and

for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 30, 1999

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Mr. DODD, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. DASCHLE, Mr.

FEINGOLD, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. INOUYE, Mr.

WELLSTONE, Mr. KERRY, Mr. AKAKA, and Ms. MIKULSKI) introduced

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee

on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to

allow employees to take school involvement leave to participate in the academic school activities of their children

or to participate in literacy training, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Time for Schools Act

5 of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR LEAVE.

2 (a) ENTITLEMENT TO LEAVE.—Section 102(a) of the

3 Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C.

4 2612(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

5 ‘‘(3) ENTITLEMENT TO SCHOOL INVOLVEMENT

6 LEAVE.—

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to section

8 103(f), an eligible employee shall be entitled to

9 a total of 24 hours of leave during any 12-

10 month period to participate in an academic ac11 tivity of a school of a son or daughter of the

12 employee, such as a parent-teacher conference

13 or an interview for a school, or to participate in

14 literacy training under a family literacy pro15 gram.

16 ‘‘(B) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph:

17 ‘‘(i) FAMILY LITERACY PROGRAM.—

18 The term ‘family literacy program’ means

19 a program of services that are of sufficient

20 intensity in terms of hours, and of suffi21 cient duration, to make sustainable

22 changes in a family and that integrate all

23 of the following activities:

24 ‘‘(I) Interactive literacy activities

25 between parents and their sons and

26 daughters.
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1 ‘‘(II) Training for parents on

2 how to be the primary teacher for

3 their sons and daughters and full

4 partners in the education of their sons

5 and daughters.

6 ‘‘(III) Parent literacy training.

7 ‘‘(IV) An age-appropriate edu8 cation program for sons and daugh9 ters.

10 ‘‘(ii) LITERACY.—The term ‘literacy’,

11 used with respect to an individual, means

12 the ability of the individual to speak, read,

13 and write English, and compute and solve

14 problems, at levels of proficiency

15 necessary—

16 ‘‘(I) to function on the job, in the

17 family of the individual, and in soci18 ety;

19 ‘‘(II) to achieve the goals of the

20 individual; and

21 ‘‘(III) to develop the knowledge

22 potential of the individual.

23 ‘‘(iii) SCHOOL.—The term ‘school’

24 means an elementary school or secondary

25 school (as such terms are defined in sec-
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1 tion 14101 of the Elementary and Sec2 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.

3 8801)), a Head Start program assisted

4 under the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831

5 et seq.), and a child care facility operated

6 by a provider who meets the applicable

7 State or local government licensing, certifi8 cation, approval, or registration require9 ments, if any.

10 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION.—No employee may take

11 more than a total of 12 workweeks of leave under

12 paragraphs (1) and (3) during any 12-month pe13 riod.’’.

14 (b) SCHEDULE.—Section 102(b)(1) of such Act (29

15 U.S.C. 2612(b)(1)) is amended by inserting after the sec16 ond sentence the following: ‘‘Leave under subsection

17 (a)(3) may be taken intermittently or on a reduced leave

18 schedule.’’.

19 (c) SUBSTITUTION OF PAID LEAVE.—Section

20 102(d)(2)(A) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2612(d)(2)(A)) is

21 amended by inserting before the period the following: ‘‘,

22 or for leave provided under subsection (a)(3) for any part

23 of the 24-hour period of such leave under such sub24 section’’.
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1 (d) NOTICE.—Section 102(e) of such Act (29 U.S.C.

2 2612(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

3 ‘‘(3) NOTICE FOR SCHOOL INVOLVEMENT

4 LEAVE.—In any case in which the necessity for leave

5 under subsection (a)(3) is foreseeable, the employee

6 shall provide the employer with not less than 7 days’

7 notice, before the date the leave is to begin, of the

8 employee’s intention to take leave under such sub9 section. If the necessity for the leave is not foresee10 able, the employee shall provide such notice as is

11 practicable.’’.

12 (e) CERTIFICATION.—Section 103 of such Act (29

13 U.S.C. 2613) is amended by adding at the end the fol14 lowing:

15 ‘‘(f) CERTIFICATION FOR SCHOOL INVOLVEMENT

16 LEAVE.—An employer may require that a request for

17 leave under section 102(a)(3) be supported by a certifi18 cation issued at such time and in such manner as the Sec19 retary may by regulation prescribe.’’.

20 SEC. 3. SCHOOL INVOLVEMENT LEAVE FOR CIVIL SERVICE

21 EMPLOYEES.

22 (a) ENTITLEMENT TO LEAVE.—Section 6382(a) of

23 title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the

24 end the following:
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•S 1304 IS

1 ‘‘(3)(A) Subject to section 6383(f), an employee shall

2 be entitled to a total of 24 hours of leave during any 12-

3 month period to participate in an academic activity of a

4 school of a son or daughter of the employee, such as a

5 parent-teacher conference or an interview for a school, or

6 to participate in literacy training under a family literacy

7 program.

8 ‘‘(B) In this paragraph:

9 ‘‘(i) The term ‘family literacy program’ means

10 a program of services that are of sufficient intensity

11 in terms of hours, and of sufficient duration, to

12 make sustainable changes in a family and that inte13 grate all of the following activities:

14 ‘‘(I) Interactive literacy activities between

15 parents and their sons and daughters.

16 ‘‘(II) Training for parents on how to be

17 the primary teacher for their sons and daugh18 ters and full partners in the education of their

19 sons and daughters.

20 ‘‘(III) Parent literacy training.

21 ‘‘(IV) An age-appropriate education pro22 gram for sons and daughters.

23 ‘‘(ii) The term ‘literacy’, used with respect to

24 an individual, means the ability of the individual to
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•S 1304 IS

1 speak, read, and write English, and compute and

2 solve problems, at levels of proficiency necessary—

3 ‘‘(I) to function on the job, in the family

4 of the individual, and in society;

5 ‘‘(II) to achieve the goals of the individual;

6 and

7 ‘‘(III) to develop the knowledge potential

8 of the individual.

9 ‘‘(iii) The term ‘school’ means an elementary

10 school or secondary school (as such terms are de11 fined in section 14101 of the Elementary and Sec12 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801)), a

13 Head Start program assisted under the Head Start

14 Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.), and a child care facil15 ity operated by a provider who meets the applicable

16 State or local government licensing, certification, ap17 proval, or registration requirements, if any.

18 ‘‘(4) No employee may take more than a total of 12

19 workweeks of leave under paragraphs (1) and (3) during

20 any 12-month period.’’.

21 (b) SCHEDULE.—Section 6382(b)(1) of such title is

22 amended by inserting after the second sentence the fol23 lowing: ‘‘Leave under subsection (a)(3) may be taken

24 intermittently or on a reduced leave schedule.’’.
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1 (c) SUBSTITUTION OF PAID LEAVE.—Section

2 6382(d) of such title is amended by inserting before ‘‘,

3 except’’ the following: ‘‘, or for leave provided under sub4 section (a)(3) any of the employee’s accrued or accumu5 lated annual leave under subchapter I for any part of the

6 24-hour period of such leave under such subsection’’.

7 (d) NOTICE.—Section 6382(e) of such title is amend8 ed by adding at the end the following:

9 ‘‘(3) In any case in which the necessity for leave

10 under subsection (a)(3) is foreseeable, the employee shall

11 provide the employing agency with not less than 7 days’

12 notice, before the date the leave is to begin, of the employ13 ee’s intention to take leave under such subsection. If the

14 necessity for the leave is not foreseeable, the employee

15 shall provide such notice as is practicable.’’.

16 (e) CERTIFICATION.—Section 6383 of such title is

17 amended by adding at the end the following:

18 ‘‘(f) An employing agency may require that a request

19 for leave under section 6382(a)(3) be supported by a cer20 tification issued at such time and in such manner as the

21 Office of Personnel Management may by regulation pre22 scribe.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 This Act takes effect 120 days after the date of en3 actment of this Act.

Æ