I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 856 

To provide paid family and medical leave to Federal employees, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2023 

Mr. BEYER (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Ms. HOULAHAN) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and 

Accountability, and in addition to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs, 

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 provide paid family and medical leave to Federal 

employees, 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 ‘‘Comprehensive Paid 

5 Leave for Federal Employees Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE FOR FEDERAL 

2 EMPLOYEES COVERED BY TITLE 5. 

3 Chapter 63 of title 5, United States Code, is amend4 ed— 

5 (1) in section 6381, by amending paragraph 

6 (1)(B) to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(B) has completed at least 12 months of 

8 service— 

9 ‘‘(i) as an employee (as defined in sec10 tion 2105) of the Government of the 

11 United States, including service with the 

12 United States Postal Service, the Postal 

13 Regulatory Commission, and a non14 appropriated fund instrumentality as de15 scribed in section 2105(c); or 

16 ‘‘(ii) on covered active duty as a mem17 ber of the National Guard or Reserves that 

18 interrupts service described in clause (i);’’; 

19 and 

20 (2) in section 6382— 

21 (A) in subsection (a)— 

22 (i) in paragraph (1)— 

23 (I) in the matter preceding sub24 paragraph (A), by striking ‘‘12 ad25 ministrative workweeks of leave’’ and 

26 inserting ‘‘12 administrative work 


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1 weeks of leave plus any additional pe2 riod of leave used under subsection 

3 (d)(2)(B)(ii)’’; and 

4 (II) in subparagraph (B), by in5 serting ‘‘and in order to care for such 

6 son or daughter’’ before the period; 

7 (ii) by amending paragraph (2) to 

8 read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(2)(A) The entitlement to leave under sub10 paragraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) shall com11 mence at time of birth or placement of a son or 

12 daughter and shall expire at the end of the 12- 

13 month period beginning on the date of such birth or 

14 placement. 

15 ‘‘(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), the 

16 entitlement to leave under subparagraph (B) in con17 nection with adoption may commence prior to the 

18 placement of the son or daughter to be adopted for 

19 activities necessary to allow the adoption to pro20 ceed.’’; and 

21 (iii) in paragraph (4)— 

22 (I) by striking ‘‘Subject to sub23 section (d)(2), during’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘During’’; and 


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1 (II) by inserting ‘‘(or 26 adminis2 trative workweeks of leave plus any 

3 additional period of leave used under 

4 subsection (d)(2)(B)(ii))’’ after ‘‘26 

5 administrative workweeks of leave’’; 

6 and 

7 (B) in subsection (d)— 

8 (i) in paragraph (1)— 

9 (I) by striking the first sentence; 

10 and 

11 (II) by striking ‘‘under sub12 chapter I’’; and 

13 (ii) in paragraph (2)— 

14 (I) in subparagraph (A), by strik15 ing ‘‘subparagraph (A) or (B)’’ and 

16 inserting ‘‘subparagraph (A) through 

17 (E)’’; 

18 (II) by striking ‘‘parental’’ in 

19 each instance; 

20 (III) in subparagraph (B)(i), by 

21 striking ‘‘birth or placement involved’’ 

22 and inserting ‘‘event giving rise to 

23 such leave’’; 

24 (IV) by amending subparagraph 

25 (E) to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(E) Nothing in this paragraph shall be 

2 construed to modify the service requirement in 

3 section 6381(1)(B).’’; 

4 (V) in subparagraph (F)(i), by 

5 striking ‘‘An employee’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘With respect to leave described 

7 under subparagraph (A) or (B) of 

8 subsection (a)(1), an employee’’; and 

9 (VI) by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(H) Notwithstanding paragraph (2)(B)(i), 

12 with respect to any employee who received paid 

13 leave for an event giving rise to such leave 

14 under any other provision of law and who be15 comes subject to this section during the period 

16 of eligibility for paid leave under this section 

17 with respect to such event, any paid leave for 

18 such event provided by this section shall be re19 duced by the total number of days of paid leave 

20 taken by such employee under such other provi21 sion of law.’’. 

22 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL EMPLOYEES UNDER THE CON23 GRESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 1995. 

24 Section 202 of the Congressional Accountability Act 

25 of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1312), is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)— 

2 (A) paragraph (1)— 

3 (i) in the second sentence— 

4 (I) by striking ‘‘subsection 

5 (a)(1)(A) or (B)’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘under any of subsections (a)(1)(A) 

7 through (E)’’; and 

8 (II) by inserting ‘‘and in the case 

9 of leave that includes leave for such 

10 an event, the period of leave to which 

11 a covered employee is entitled under 

12 section 102(a)(1) of such Act shall be 

13 12 administrative workweeks of leave 

14 plus any additional period of leave 

15 used under subsection (d)(2)(B) of 

16 this section’’ before the period; and 

17 (ii) by striking the third sentence and 

18 inserting the following: ‘‘For purposes of 

19 applying section 102(a)(4) of such Act, in 

20 the case of leave that includes leave under 

21 any of subparagraphs (A) through (E) of 

22 section 102(a)(1) of such Act, a covered 

23 employee is entitled, under paragraphs (1) 

24 and (3) of section 102(a) of such Act, to 

25 a combined total of 26 workweeks of leave 


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1 plus any additional period of leave used 

2 under subsection (d)(2)(B) of this sec3 tion.’’; and 

4 (B) in paragraph (2), by amending sub5 paragraph (B) to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(B) except for leave described under sec7 tion 102(a)(3) of such Act, the term ‘eligible 

8 employee’ as used in that Act means a covered 

9 employee.’’; and 

10 (2) in subsection (d)— 

11 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

12 ‘‘PARENTAL LEAVE’’ and inserting ‘‘FAMILY

13 AND MEDICAL LEAVE’’; 

14 (B) by striking ‘‘subparagraph (A) or (B)’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘any of subparagraphs (A) 

16 through (E)’’; 

17 (C) by striking ‘‘parental’’ in each in18 stance; and 

19 (D) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘birth 

20 or placement involved’’ and inserting ‘‘event 

21 giving rise to such leave’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. GAO, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, POSTAL SERVICE, 

2 AND POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION EM3 PLOYEES. 

4 The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 

5 U.S.C. 2612), is amended— 

6 (1) in section 101(2)(E)— 

7 (A) in the subparagraph heading, by in8 serting ‘‘, USPS, AND POSTAL REGULATORY

9 COMMISSION’’ after ‘‘GAO’’; 

10 (B) by inserting ‘‘, the United States Post11 al Service, or the Postal Regulatory Commis12 sion’’ after ‘‘Government Accountability Of13 fice’’; and 

14 (C) by striking ‘‘section 102(a)(1)(A) or 

15 (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 102(a)(1)(A) 

16 through (E)’’; 

17 (2) in section 102(d)(3)— 

18 (A) in the paragraph heading, by inserting 

19 ‘‘, USPS, AND POSTAL REGULATORY COMMIS20 SION’’ after ‘‘GAO’’; 

21 (B) by striking ‘‘the Government Account22 ability Office’’ in each instance and inserting 

23 ‘‘the Government Accountability Office, the 

24 United States Postal Service, or the Postal 

25 Regulatory Commission’’; 


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1 (C) by striking ‘‘parental’’ in each instance 

2 and inserting ‘‘family and medical’’; 

3 (D) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘sub4 paragraph (A) or (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘subpara5 graphs (A) through (E)’’; and 

6 (E) in subparagraph (B)(i), by striking 

7 ‘‘birth or placement involved’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘event giving rise to such leave’’; and 

9 (3) by adding at the end of section 102(a) the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(6) SPECIAL RULES ON PERIOD OF LEAVE.— 

12 With respect to an employee of the Government Ac13 countability Office, the Library of Congress, the 

14 United States Postal Service, or the Postal Regu15 latory Commission— 

16 ‘‘(A) in the case of leave that includes 

17 leave under subparagraph (A) through (E) of 

18 paragraph (1), the employee shall be entitled to 

19 12 administrative workweeks of leave plus any 

20 additional period of leave used under subsection 

21 (d)(3)(B)(ii) of this section or section 

22 202(d)(2)(B) of the Congressional Account23 ability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1312(d)(2)(B)), 

24 as the case may be; 


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1 ‘‘(B) for the purposes of paragraph (4), 

2 the employee is entitled, under paragraphs (1) 

3 and (3), to a combined total of 26 workweeks 

4 of leave plus, if applicable, any additional pe5 riod of leave used under subsection (d)(3)(B)(ii) 

6 of this section or section 202(d)(2)(B) of the 

7 Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 

8 U.S.C. 1312(d)(2)(B)), as the case may be; and 

9 ‘‘(C) the entitlement to leave under para10 graph (1)(B) in connection with adoption may 

11 commence prior to the placement of the son or 

12 daughter to be adopted for activities necessary 

13 to allow the adoption to proceed.’’. 

14 SEC. 5. EMPLOYEES OF THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE 

15 PRESIDENT. 

16 Section 412 of title 3, United States Code, is amend17 ed— 

18 (1) in subsection (a)(3), by striking ‘‘or (B)’’ 

19 and inserting ‘‘through (E)’’; and 

20 (2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘or (B)’’ in 

21 each instance and inserting ‘‘through (E)’’. 

22 SEC. 6. FAA AND TSA EMPLOYEES. 

23 Section 40122(g)(5) of title 49, United States Code, 

24 is amended— 


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1 (1) in the paragraph heading, by striking ‘‘PA2 RENTAL’’; and 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘parental’’ in each instance. 

4 SEC. 7. TITLE 38 EMPLOYEES. 

5 Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment 

6 of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall modify 

7 the family and medical leave program provided by oper8 ation of section 7425(c) of title 38, United States Code, 

9 to conform with this Act and the amendments made by 

10 this Act. 

11 SEC. 8. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COURTS AND DISTRICT OF 

12 COLUMBIA PUBLIC DEFENDER SERVICE. 

13 (a) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COURTS.—Subsection 

14 (d) of section 11–1726, District of Columbia Official Code, 

15 is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(d) In carrying out the family and medical leave act 

17 of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) with respect to non-judi18 cial employees of the District of Columbia courts, the 

19 Joint Committee on Judicial Administration shall, not20 withstanding any provision of such Act, establish a paid 

21 family and medical leave program for the leave described 

22 in subparagraphs (A) through (E) of section 102(a)(1) of 

23 such Act (29 U.S.C. 2612(a)(1)). In developing the terms 

24 and conditions for this program, the Joint Committee may 

25 be guided by the terms and conditions applicable to the 


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1 provision of paid family and medical leave for employees 

2 of the Federal Government under chapter 63 of title 5, 

3 United States Code, and any corresponding regulations.’’. 

4 (b) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PUBLIC DEFENDER

5 SERVICE.—Subsection (d) of section 305 of the District 

6 of Columbia Court Reform and Criminal Procedure Act 

7 of 1970 (sec. 21605, D.C. Official Code) is amended to 

8 read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(d) In carrying out the Family and Medical Leave 

10 Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) with respect to em11 ployees of the Service, the Director shall, notwithstanding 

12 any provision of such Act, establish a paid leave program 

13 for the leave described in subparagraphs (A) through (E) 

14 of section 102(a)(1) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2612(a)(1)). 

15 In developing the terms and conditions for this program, 

16 the Director may be guided by the terms and conditions 

17 applicable to the provision of paid family and medical leave 

18 for employees of the Federal Government under chapter 

19 63 of title 5, United States Code, and any corresponding 

20 regulations.’’. 

Æ 


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