II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1283 

To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to permit leave 

to care for a same-sex spouse, domestic partner, parent-in-law, adult 

child, sibling, grandchild, or grandparent who has a serious health condition. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 28, 2011 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. KERRY, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. 

COONS, Mr. AKAKA, and Mr. LAUTENBERG) 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 

permit leave to care for a same-sex spouse, domestic 

partner, parent-in-law, adult child, sibling, grandchild, 

or grandparent who has a serious health condition. 

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 ‘‘Family and Medical 

5 Leave Inclusion Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LEAVE TO CARE FOR A SAME-SEX SPOUSE, DOMES2 TIC PARTNER, PARENT-IN-LAW, ADULT 

3 CHILD, SIBLING, GRANDCHILD, OR GRAND4 PARENT. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.— 

6 (1) INCLUSION OF ADULT CHILDREN AND CHIL7 DREN OF A DOMESTIC PARTNER.—Section 101(12) 

8 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2611(12)) is amended— 

9 (A) by inserting ‘‘a child of an individual’s 

10 domestic partner,’’ after ‘‘a legal ward,’’; and 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘who is—’’ and all that 

12 follows and inserting ‘‘and includes an adult 

13 child.’’. 

14 (2) INCLUSION OF GRANDCHILDREN, GRAND15 PARENTS, PARENTS-IN-LAW, SIBLINGS, AND DOMES16 TIC PARTNERS.—Section 101 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 

17 2611) is further amended by adding at the end the 

18 following: 

19 ‘‘(20) DOMESTIC PARTNER.—The term ‘domes20 tic partner’, used with respect to an employee, 

21 means— 

22 ‘‘(A) the person recognized as the domestic 

23 partner of the employee under any domestic 

24 partner registry or civil union law of the State 

25 or political subdivision of a State where the em26 ployee resides, or the person who is lawfully 


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1 married to the employee under the law of the 

2 State where the employee resides and who is 

3 the same sex as the employee; or 

4 ‘‘(B) in the case of an unmarried employee 

5 who lives in a State where a person cannot 

6 marry a person of the same sex under the laws 

7 of the State, a single, unmarried adult person 

8 of the same sex as the employee who is in a 

9 committed, personal (as defined in regulations 

10 issued by the Secretary) relationship with the 

11 employee, who is not a domestic partner to any 

12 other person, and who is designated to the em13 ployer by such employee as that employee’s do14 mestic partner. 

15 ‘‘(21) GRANDCHILD.—The term ‘grandchild’, 

16 used with respect to an employee, means any person 

17 who is a son or daughter of a son or daughter of 

18 the employee. 

19 ‘‘(22) GRANDPARENT.—The term ‘grand20 parent’, used with respect to an employee, means a 

21 parent of a parent of the employee. 

22 ‘‘(23) PARENT-IN-LAW.—The term ‘parent-in23 law’, used with respect to an employee, means a par24 ent of the spouse or domestic partner of the em25 ployee. 


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1 ‘‘(24) SIBLING.—The term ‘sibling’, used with 

2 respect to an employee, means any person who is a 

3 son or daughter of the employee’s parent. 

4 ‘‘(25) SON-IN-LAW OR DAUGHTER-IN-LAW.— 

5 The term ‘son-in-law or daughter-in-law’, used with 

6 respect to an employee, means any person who is a 

7 spouse or domestic partner of a son or daughter of 

8 the employee.’’. 

9 (b) LEAVE REQUIREMENT.—Section 102 of the Fam10 ily and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612) is 

11 amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 

13 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

14 ‘‘spouse, or a son, daughter, or parent, of the 

15 employee, if such spouse, son, daughter, or par16 ent’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse or domestic partner, 

17 or a son, daughter, parent, parent-in-law, 

18 grandparent, or sibling, of the employee if such 

19 spouse, domestic partner, son, daughter, parent, 

20 parent-in-law, grandparent, or sibling’’; and 

21 (B) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

22 ‘‘spouse, or a son, daughter, or parent’’ and in23 serting ‘‘spouse or domestic partner, or a son, 

24 daughter, parent, parent-in-law, grandchild, or 

25 sibling,’’; 


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1 (2) in subsection (a)(3), by striking ‘‘spouse, 

2 son, daughter, parent,’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse or do3 mestic partner, son, daughter, parent, son-in-law or 

4 daughter-in-law, grandparent, sibling,’’; 

5 (3) in subsection (e)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking 

7 ‘‘spouse, parent,’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse, do8 mestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, grand9 child, grandparent, sibling,’’; and 

10 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘spouse, 

11 or a son, daughter, or parent,’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘spouse or domestic partner, or a son, daugh13 ter, parent, parent-in-law, grandchild, or sib14 ling,’’; and 

15 (4) in subsection (f)— 

16 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘a hus17 band and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘2 spouses or 2 

18 domestic partners’’; and 

19 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

20 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

21 ‘‘that husband and wife’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘those spouses or those domestic part23 ners’’; and 

24 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

25 ‘‘the husband and wife’’ and inserting 


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1 ‘‘those spouses or those domestic part2 ners’’. 

3 (c) CERTIFICATION.—Section 103 of the Family and 

4 Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2613) is amend5 ed— 

6 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘spouse, or 

7 parent’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse, domestic partner, 

8 parent, parent-in-law, grandchild, grandparent, or 

9 sibling’’; and 

10 (2) in subsection (b)— 

11 (A) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking 

12 ‘‘spouse, or parent and an estimate of the 

13 amount of time that such employee is needed to 

14 care for the son, daughter, spouse, or parent’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘spouse, domestic partner, par16 ent, parent-in-law, grandparent, or sibling and 

17 an estimate of the amount of time that such 

18 employee is needed to care for such son, daugh19 ter, spouse, domestic partner, parent, parent-in20 law, grandparent, or sibling’’; and 

21 (B) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘parent, 

22 or spouse’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse, domestic 

23 partner, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, or 

24 sibling’’. 


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1 (d) EMPLOYMENT AND BENEFITS PROTECTION.— 

2 Section 104(c)(3) of the Family and Medical Leave Act 

3 of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2614(c)(3)) is amended— 

4 (1) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking ‘‘spouse, 

5 or parent’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse, domestic partner, 

6 parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, or sibling’’; and 

7 (2) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by striking 

8 ‘‘spouse, or parent’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse, domestic 

9 partner, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, or sib10 ling’’. 

11 SEC. 3. FEDERAL EMPLOYEES. 

12 (a) DEFINITIONS.— 

13 (1) INCLUSION OF ADULT CHILDREN AND CHIL14 DREN OF A DOMESTIC PARTNER.—Section 6381(6) 

15 of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

16 (A) by inserting ‘‘a child of an individual’s 

17 domestic partner,’’ after ‘‘a legal ward,’’; and 

18 (B) by striking ‘‘who is—’’ and all that 

19 follows and inserting ‘‘and includes an adult 

20 child.’’. 

21 (2) INCLUSION OF GRANDCHILDREN, GRAND22 PARENTS, PARENTS-IN-LAW, SIBLINGS, AND DOMES23 TIC PARTNERS.—Section 6381 of such title is fur24 ther amended— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (11)(B), by striking ‘‘; 

2 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

3 (B) in paragraph (12), by striking the pe4 riod and inserting a semicolon; and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(13) the term ‘domestic partner’, used with re7 spect to an employee, means— 

8 ‘‘(A) the person recognized as the domestic 

9 partner of the employee under any domestic 

10 partner registry or civil union law of the State 

11 or political subdivision of a State where the em12 ployee resides, or the person who is lawfully 

13 married to the employee under the law of the 

14 State where the employee resides and who is 

15 the same sex as the employee; or 

16 ‘‘(B) in the case of an unmarried employee 

17 who lives in a State where a person cannot 

18 marry a person of the same sex under the laws 

19 of the State, a single, unmarried adult person 

20 of the same sex as the employee who is in a 

21 committed, personal (as defined in regulations 

22 issued by the Office of Personnel Management) 

23 relationship with the employee, who is not a do24 mestic partner to any other person, and who is 


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1 designated to the employer by such employee as 

2 that employee’s domestic partner; 

3 ‘‘(14) the term ‘grandchild’, used with respect 

4 to an employee, means any person who is a son or 

5 daughter of a son or daughter of the employee; 

6 ‘‘(15) the term ‘grandparent’, used with respect 

7 to an employee, means a parent of a parent of the 

8 employee; 

9 ‘‘(16) the term ‘parent-in-law’, used with re10 spect to an employee, means a parent of the spouse 

11 or domestic partner of the employee; 

12 ‘‘(17) the term ‘sibling’, used with respect to an 

13 employee, means any person who is a son or daugh14 ter of the employee’s parent; and 

15 ‘‘(18) the term ‘son-in-law or daughter-in-law’, 

16 used with respect to an employee, means any person 

17 who is a spouse or domestic partner of a son or 

18 daughter of the employee.’’. 

19 (b) LEAVE REQUIREMENT.—Section 6382 of title 5, 

20 United States Code, is amended— 

21 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 

22 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

23 ‘‘spouse, or a son, daughter, or parent, of the 

24 employee, if such spouse, son, daughter, or par25 ent’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse or domestic partner, 


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1 or a son, daughter, parent, parent-in-law, 

2 grandparent, or sibling, of the employee, if such 

3 spouse, domestic partner, son, daughter, parent, 

4 parent-in-law, grandparent, or sibling’’; and 

5 (B) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

6 ‘‘spouse, or a son, daughter, or parent’’ and in7 serting ‘‘spouse or domestic partner, or a son, 

8 daughter, parent, parent-in-law, grandchild, or 

9 sibling,’’; 

10 (2) in subsection (a)(3), by striking ‘‘spouse, 

11 son, daughter, parent,’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse or do12 mestic partner, son, daughter, parent, son-in-law or 

13 daughter-in-law, grandparent, sibling,’’; and 

14 (3) in subsection (e)— 

15 (A) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking 

16 ‘‘spouse, parent’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse, domes17 tic partner, parent, parent-in-law, grandchild, 

18 grandparent, sibling’’; and 

19 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘spouse, 

20 or a son, daughter, or parent,’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘spouse or domestic partner, or a son, daugh22 ter, parent, parent-in-law, grandchild, or sib23 ling,’’. 

24 (c) CERTIFICATION.—Section 6383 of title 5, United 

25 States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘spouse, or 

2 parent’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse, domestic partner, 

3 parent, parent-in-law, grandchild, grandparent, or 

4 sibling’’; and 

5 (2) in subsection (b)(4)(A), by striking ‘‘spouse, 

6 or parent, and an estimate of the amount of time 

7 that such employee is needed to care for such son, 

8 daughter, spouse, or parent’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse, 

9 domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, grand10 parent, or sibling and an estimate of the amount of 

11 time that such employee is needed to care for such 

12 son, daughter, spouse, domestic partner, parent, 

13 parent-in-law, grandparent, or sibling’’. 

Æ 


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