I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1534 

To provide that 12 weeks of family leave made available to a Federal employee 

shall be paid leave, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 5, 2019 

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York (for herself, Ms. NORTON, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. 

DESAULNIER, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. WEXTON, Mr. HOYER, and Mr. BEYER) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committee on 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 that 12 weeks of family leave made available 

to a Federal employee shall be paid leave, 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 ‘‘Federal Employee Paid 

5 Leave Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PAID FAMILY LEAVE FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES 

2 COVERED BY TITLE 5. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (c) of section 6382 of 

4 title 5, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(c)(1) Leave granted under subsection (a) shall be 

6 paid leave. 

7 ‘‘(2)(A) An employee may elect to substitute for any 

8 leave under such subsection any other paid leave which 

9 is available to such employee for that purpose. 

10 ‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not be construed to re11 quire that an employee first use all or any portion of the 

12 other paid leave described in such subparagraph before 

13 being allowed to use leave under subsection (a). 

14 ‘‘(3) Leave under subsection (a)— 

15 ‘‘(A) shall be payable from any appropriation or 

16 fund available for salaries or expenses for positions 

17 within the employing agency; 

18 ‘‘(B) shall not be considered to be annual or va19 cation leave for purposes of section 5551 or 5552 or 

20 for any other purpose; and 

21 ‘‘(C) if not used by the employee before the end 

22 of the 12-month period (as referred to in subsection 

23 (a)(1)) to which it relates, shall not accumulate for 

24 any subsequent use. 

25 ‘‘(4) The Director of the Office of Personnel Manage26 ment— 


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1 ‘‘(A) may promulgate regulations to increase 

2 the amount of leave available to an employee under 

3 subsection (a) to a total of not more than 16 admin4 istrative workweeks, based on the consideration of— 

5 ‘‘(i) the benefits provided to the Federal 

6 Government of increasing such leave, including 

7 enhanced recruitment and retention of employ8 ees; 

9 ‘‘(ii) the cost to the Federal Government of 

10 increasing the amount of such leave that is 

11 available to employees; 

12 ‘‘(iii) trends in the private sector and in 

13 State and local governments with respect to of14 fering such leave; 

15 ‘‘(iv) the Federal Government’s role as a 

16 model employer; 

17 ‘‘(v) the impact of increased leave under 

18 subsection (a) on lower-income and economi19 cally disadvantaged employees and their chil20 dren; and 

21 ‘‘(vi) such other factors as the Director 

22 considers necessary; and 

23 ‘‘(B) shall prescribe any regulations necessary 

24 to carry out this subsection, including the manner in 

25 which an employee may designate any day or other 


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1 period as to which such employee wishes to use leave 

2 under subsection (a).’’. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

4 this section shall not be effective with respect to any birth 

5 or placement occurring before the end of the 6-month pe6 riod beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

7 SEC. 3. PAID FAMILY LEAVE FOR CONGRESSIONAL EM8 PLOYEES. 

9 (a) AMENDMENTS TO CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNT10 ABILITY ACT.—Section 202 of the Congressional Account11 ability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1312) is amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by adding at the end 

13 the following: ‘‘In applying section 102(a)(1) of such 

14 Act to covered employees, subsection (d) shall 

15 apply.’’; 

16 (2) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as 

17 subsections (e) and (f), respectively; and 

18 (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULE FOR PAID FAMILY LEAVE FOR

21 CONGRESSIONAL EMPLOYEES.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any leave taken by a cov23 ered employee under section 102(a)(1) of the Family 

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

25 2612(a)(1)) shall be paid leave. 


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1 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT OF PAID LEAVE.—The paid leave 

2 that is available to a covered employee for purposes 

3 of paragraph (1) is— 

4 ‘‘(A) the number of weeks of paid family 

5 leave in connection with the birth or placement 

6 involved that correspond to the number of ad7 ministrative workweeks of paid family leave 

8 available to Federal employees under section 

9 6382(d)(3)(A) of title 5, United States Code; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(B) any additional paid vacation or sick 

12 leave provided by the employing office to such 

13 employee. 

14 ‘‘(3) SUBSTITUTION.—An employee may elect 

15 to substitute for any leave under such section 

16 102(a)(1) any other paid leave which is available to 

17 such employee for that purpose. The previous sen18 tence shall not be construed to require that an em19 ployee first use all or any portion of the other paid 

20 leave before being allowed to use the paid family 

21 leave described in this subsection. 

22 ‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL RULES.—Paid family leave 

23 under this subsection— 


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1 ‘‘(A) shall be payable from any appropria2 tion or fund available for salaries or expenses 

3 for positions within the employing office; and 

4 ‘‘(B) if not used by the covered employee 

5 before the end of the 12-month period (as re6 ferred to in section 102(a)(1) of the Family and 

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

8 2612(a)(1))) to which it relates, shall not accu9 mulate for any subsequent use.’’. 

10 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

11 this section shall not be effective with respect to any birth 

12 or placement occurring before the end of the 6-month pe13 riod beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

14 SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO FAMILY AND MED15 ICAL LEAVE ACT FOR GAO EMPLOYEES. 

16 (a) AMENDMENT TO FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE

17 ACT OF 1993.—Section 102(d) of the Family and Medical 

18 Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612(d)) is amended by 

19 adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR GAO EMPLOYEES.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any leave under sub22 section (a)(1) taken by an employee of the Gov23 ernment Accountability Office shall be paid 

24 leave. 


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1 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT OF PAID LEAVE.—The paid 

2 leave that is available to such an employee for 

3 purposes of subparagraph (A) is— 

4 ‘‘(i) the number of weeks of paid fam5 ily leave in connection with the birth or 

6 placement involved that correspond to the 

7 number of administrative workweeks of 

8 paid family leave available to Federal em9 ployees under section 6382(d)(3)(A) of 

10 title 5, United States Code; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) any additional paid vacation or 

12 sick leave provided by such employer. 

13 ‘‘(C) SUBSTITUTION.—An employee may 

14 elect to substitute for any leave under sub15 section (a)(1) any other paid leave which is 

16 available to such employee for that purpose. 

17 The previous sentence shall not be construed to 

18 require that an employee first use all or any 

19 portion of the other paid leave before being al20 lowed to use the paid family leave described in 

21 this subsection. 

22 ‘‘(D) ADDITIONAL RULES.—Paid family 

23 leave under subsection (a)(1)— 

24 ‘‘(i) shall be payable from any appro25 priation or fund available for salaries or 


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1 expenses for positions with the Government 

2 Accountability Office; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) if not used by the employee of 

4 such employer before the end of the 12- 

5 month period (as referred to in subsection 

6 (a)(1)) to which it relates, shall not accu7 mulate for any subsequent use.’’. 

8 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

9 this section shall not be effective with respect to any birth 

10 or placement occurring before the end of the 6-month pe11 riod beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

12 SEC. 5. CLARIFICATION FOR MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL 

13 GUARD AND RESERVES. 

14 (a) EXECUTIVE BRANCH EMPLOYEES.—For pur15 poses of determining the eligibility of an employee who is 

16 a member of the National Guard or Reserves to take leave 

17 under section 6382(a) of title 5, United States Code, or 

18 to substitute such leave pursuant to paragraph (2) of such 

19 section (as added by section 2), any service by such em20 ployee on active duty (as defined in section 6381(7) of 

21 such title) shall be counted as service as an employee for 

22 purposes of section 6381(1)(B) of such title. 

23 (b) CONGRESSIONAL EMPLOYEES.—For purposes of 

24 determining the eligibility of a covered employee (as such 

25 term is defined in section 101(3) of the Congressional AcVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1534.IH H1534

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1 countability Act) who is a member of the National Guard 

2 or Reserves to take leave under section 102(a)(1) of the 

3 Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (pursuant to sec4 tion 202(a)(1) of the Congressional Accountability Act), 

5 or to substitute such leave pursuant to subsection (d) of 

6 section 202 of such Act (as added by section 3), any serv7 ice by such employee on active duty (as defined in section 

8 101(14) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993) 

9 shall be counted as time during which such employee has 

10 been employed in an employing office for purposes of sec11 tion 202(a)(2)(B) of the Congressional Accountability Act. 

12 (c) GAO EMPLOYEES.—For purposes of determining 

13 the eligibility of an employee of the Government Account14 ability Office who is a member of the National Guard or 

15 Reserves to take leave under section 102(a)(1) of the 

16 Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, or to substitute 

17 such leave pursuant to paragraph (3) of section 102(d) 

18 of such Act (as added by section 4), any service by such 

19 employee on active duty (as defined in section 101(14) of 

20 such Act) shall be counted as time during which such em21 ployee has been employed for purposes of section 

22 101(2)(A) of such Act. 


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1 SEC. 6. CONFORMING AMENDMENT FOR CERTAIN TSA EM2 PLOYEES. 

3 Section 111(d)(2) of the Aviation and Transportation 

4 Security Act (49 U.S.C. 44935 note) is amended to read 

5 as follows: 

6 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) REEMPLOYMENT.—In carrying out 

8 the functions authorized under paragraph (1), 

9 the Under Secretary shall be subject to the pro10 visions set forth in chapter 43 of title 38, 

11 United States Code. 

12 ‘‘(B) LEAVE.—The provisions of section 

13 6382(a)(1) of title 5, United States Code, and 

14 subsection (c) of such section shall apply to any 

15 individual appointed under paragraph (1).’’. 

Æ 


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