I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7978 

To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and title 5, United 

States Code, to allow employees to take, as additional leave, parental 

involvement leave to participate in or attend their children’s and grandchildren’s educational and extracurricular activities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 12, 2024 

Ms. WILSON of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the 

Committees on Oversight and Accountability, and House Administration, 

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 

committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and 

title 5, United States Code, to allow employees to take, 

as additional leave, parental involvement leave to participate in or attend their children’s and grandchildren’s 

educational and extracurricular activities, 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, 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 7978 IH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Family Leave for Pa3 rental Involvement in Education Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. ENTITLEMENT TO ADDITIONAL LEAVE UNDER THE 

5 FMLA FOR PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT AND 

6 FAMILY WELLNESS. 

7 (a) LEAVE REQUIREMENT.—Section 102(a) of the 

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

9 2612(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following 

10 new paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(6) ENTITLEMENT TO ADDITIONAL LEAVE FOR

12 PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara14 graph (B) and section 103(g), an eligible em15 ployee shall be entitled to leave under this para16 graph to participate in or attend a school con17 ference or an activity that is sponsored by a 

18 school or community organization and relates to 

19 a program of the school or organization that is 

20 attended by a son or daughter or a grandchild 

21 of the employee. 

22 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS.— 

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An eligible em24 ployee is entitled to— 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 7978 IH

1 ‘‘(I) not to exceed 8 hours of 

2 leave under this paragraph during any 

3 30-day period; and 

4 ‘‘(II) not to exceed 48 hours of 

5 leave under this paragraph during any 

6 12-month period. 

7 ‘‘(ii) COORDINATION RULE.—Leave 

8 under this paragraph shall be in addition 

9 to any leave provided under any other 

10 paragraph of this subsection. 

11 ‘‘(C) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this para12 graph: 

13 ‘‘(i) SCHOOL.—The term ‘school’ 

14 means an elementary school or secondary 

15 school (as such terms are defined in sec16 tion 9101 of the Elementary and Sec17 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

18 7801)), a Head Start program assisted 

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

20 et seq.), or a child care facility. 

21 ‘‘(ii) COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION.— 

22 The term ‘community organization’ means 

23 a private nonprofit organization that is 

24 representative of a community or a signifi25 cant segment of a community and provides 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 7978 IH

1 activities for individuals described in sub2 paragraph (A) or (B) of section 101(12), 

3 such as a scouting or sports organiza4 tion.’’. 

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

6 U.S.C. 2612(b)(1)) is amended by inserting after the third 

7 sentence the following new sentence: ‘‘Leave under sub8 section (a)(6) may be taken intermittently or on a reduced 

9 leave schedule.’’. 

10 (c) SUBSTITUTION OF PAID LEAVE.—Section 

11 102(d)(2) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2612(d)(2)) is amended 

12 by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: 

13 ‘‘(C) PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT LEAVE.— 

14 An eligible employee may elect, or an employer 

15 may require the employee, to substitute any of 

16 the accrued paid vacation leave, personal leave, 

17 or family leave of the employee for any leave 

18 under subsection (a)(6). In addition, an eligible 

19 employee may elect, or an employer may require 

20 the employee, to substitute any of the accrued 

21 paid medical or sick leave of the employee for 

22 leave provided under clause (ii) of subsection 

23 (a)(6)(A) for any part of the leave under such 

24 clause, except that nothing in this title shall re25 quire an employer to provide paid sick leave or 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 7978 IH

1 paid medical leave in any situation in which 

2 such employer would not normally provide any 

3 such paid leave. If the employee elects or the 

4 employer requires the substitution of accrued 

5 paid leave for leave provided under subsection 

6 (a)(6)(A), the employer shall not restrict or 

7 limit this substitution or impose any additional 

8 terms and conditions on such leave that are 

9 more stringent on the employee than the terms 

10 and conditions set forth in this Act.’’. 

11 (d) NOTICE.—Section 102(e) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 

12 2612(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following 

13 new paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(4) NOTICE RELATING TO PARENTAL IN15 VOLVEMENT.—In any case in which an employee re16 quests leave under paragraph (6) of subsection (a), 

17 the employee shall provide the employer with not 

18 less than 7 days’ notice or as much notice as is prac19 ticable before the date the leave is to be taken, of 

20 the employee’s intention to take leave under such 

21 paragraph.’’. 

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

23 U.S.C. 2613) is amended by adding at the end the fol24 lowing new subsection: 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 7978 IH

1 ‘‘(g) CERTIFICATION RELATED TO PARENTAL IN2 VOLVEMENT.—An employer may require that a request for 

3 leave under section 102(a)(6) be supported by a certifi4 cation issued at such time and in such manner as the Sec5 retary may by regulation prescribe.’’. 

6 (f) DEFINITION OF GRANDCHILD.—Section 101 of 

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

8 2611) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

9 paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(20) GRANDCHILD.—The term ‘grandchild’ 

11 means a son or daughter of an employee’s son or 

12 daughter.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. ENTITLEMENT OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES TO LEAVE 

14 FOR PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT. 

15 (a) LEAVE REQUIREMENT.—Section 6382(a) of title 

16 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

17 the following new paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(5)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B)(i) and section 

19 6383(f), an employee shall be entitled to leave under this 

20 paragraph to participate in or attend a school conference 

21 or an activity that is sponsored by a school or community 

22 organization and relates to a program of the school or or23 ganization that is attended by a son or daughter or a 

24 grandchild of the employee. 

25 ‘‘(B)(i) An employee is entitled to— 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 7978 IH

1 ‘‘(I) not to exceed 8 hours of leave under this 

2 paragraph during any 30-day period; and 

3 ‘‘(II) not to exceed 48 hours of leave under this 

4 paragraph during any 12-month period. 

5 ‘‘(ii) Leave under this paragraph shall be in addition 

6 to any leave provided under any other paragraph of this 

7 subsection. 

8 ‘‘(C) For the purpose of this paragraph— 

9 ‘‘(i) the term ‘school’ means an elementary 

10 school or secondary school (as such terms are de11 fined in section 9101 of the Elementary and Sec12 ondary Education Act of 1965), a Head Start pro13 gram assisted under the Head Start Act, and a child 

14 care facility licensed under State law; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘community organization’ means 

16 a private nonprofit organization that is representa17 tive of a community or a significant segment of a 

18 community and provides activities for individuals de19 scribed in subparagraph (A) or (B) of section 

20 6381(6), such as a scouting or sports organization.’’. 

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

22 amended— 

23 (1) by inserting after the second sentence the 

24 following new sentence: ‘‘Leave under subsection 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 7978 IH

1 (a)(5) may be taken intermittently or on a reduced 

2 leave schedule.’’; and 

3 (2) in the last sentence, by striking ‘‘involved,’’ 

4 and inserting ‘‘involved (or, in the case of leave 

5 under subsection (a)(5), for purposes of any 30-day 

6 or 12-month period),’’. 

7 (c) SUBSTITUTION OF PAID LEAVE.—Section 

8 6382(d) of such title is amended by adding at the end 

9 the following: 

10 ‘‘(3) An employee may elect to substitute for leave 

11 under subsection (a)(5), any of the employee’s accrued or 

12 accumulated annual or sick leave under subchapter I. If 

13 the employee elects to substitute accumulated annual or 

14 sick leave for leave provided under subsection (a)(5), the 

15 employing agency shall not restrict or limit this substi16 tution or impose any additional terms and conditions on 

17 such leave that are more stringent on the employee than 

18 the terms and conditions set forth in this subchapter.’’. 

19 (d) NOTICE.—Section 6382(e) of such title is amend20 ed by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(4) In any case in which an employee requests leave 

22 under paragraph (5) of subsection (a), the employee shall 

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

24 notice, before the date the leave is to be taken, of the em25 ployee’s intention to take leave under such paragraph.’’. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 7978 IH

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

2 amended by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)(E) or (3) of section 

3 6382(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1)(E), (3), or (5) of 

4 section 6382(a)’’. 

5 (f) DEFINITION OF GRANDCHILD.—Section 6381 of 

6 title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (11)(B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

8 the end; 

9 (2) in paragraph (12), by striking the period at 

10 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

11 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

12 paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(13) the term ‘grandchild’ means a son or 

14 daughter of an employee’s son or daughter.’’. 

Æ 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS