II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2033 

To provide that 6 of the 12 weeks of parental leave made available to 

a Federal employee shall be paid leave, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2015 

Mr. SCHATZ (for himself and Ms. MIKULSKI) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide that 6 of the 12 weeks of parental 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 Employees 

5 Paid Parental Leave Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PAID PARENTAL LEAVE FOR EXECUTIVE BRANCH 

7 EMPLOYEES. 

8 (a) AMENDMENT TO TITLE 5.—Section 6382(d) of 

9 title 5, United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘An employee may 

2 elect’’ the first place it appears; 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘(A), (B),’’; and 

4 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

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

6 leave without pay under subparagraph (A) or (B) of sub7 section (a)(1) any paid leave which is available to such 

8 employee for that purpose. 

9 ‘‘(3) The paid leave that is available to an employee 

10 for purposes of paragraph (2) is— 

11 ‘‘(A) subject to paragraph (6), 6 administrative 

12 workweeks of paid parental leave under this sub13 paragraph in connection with the birth or placement 

14 involved; and 

15 ‘‘(B) any annual or sick leave accrued or accu16 mulated by such employee under subchapter I. 

17 ‘‘(4) Nothing in this subsection shall be considered 

18 to require that an employee first use all or any portion 

19 of the leave described in paragraph (3)(B) before being 

20 allowed to use the paid parental leave described in para21 graph (3)(A). 

22 ‘‘(5) Paid parental leave under paragraph (3)(A)— 

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

24 fund available for salaries or expenses for positions 

25 within the employing agency; 


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1 ‘‘(B) shall not be considered to be annual or va2 cation leave for purposes of section 5551 or 5552 or 

3 for any other purpose; and 

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

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

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

7 any subsequent use. 

8 ‘‘(6) The Director of the Office of Personnel Manage9 ment— 

10 ‘‘(A) may promulgate regulations to increase 

11 the amount of paid parental leave available to an 

12 employee under paragraph (3)(A), to a total of not 

13 more than 12 administrative workweeks, based on 

14 the consideration of— 

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

16 Government of offering increased paid parental 

17 leave, including enhanced recruitment and re18 tention of employees; 

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

20 increasing the amount of paid parental leave 

21 that is available to employees; 

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

23 State and local governments with respect to of24 fering paid parental leave; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) the role of the Federal Government 

2 as a model employer; 

3 ‘‘(v) the impact of increased paid parental 

4 leave on lower-income and economically dis5 advantaged employees and their children; and 

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

7 considers necessary; and 

8 ‘‘(B) shall prescribe any regulations necessary 

9 to carry out this subsection, including, subject to 

10 paragraph (4), the manner in which an employee 

11 may designate any day or other period as to which 

12 such employee wishes to use paid parental leave de13 scribed in paragraph (3)(A).’’. 

14 (b) TSA.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 114(n) of title 49, 

16 United States Code, is amended— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘The personnel manage18 ment system’’ and inserting the following: 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The personnel management 

20 system’’; and 

21 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(2) FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE INCLUDING

23 PAID PARENTAL LEAVE.—The personnel manage24 ment system under paragraph (1) shall include fam25 ily and medical leave (including the ability to subVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 Sep 16, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2033.IS S2033

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1 stitute paid leave (including paid parental leave) for 

2 any leave without pay under such family and med3 ical leave) for employees of the Transportation Secu4 rity Administration (including security screening 

5 personnel described in section 111(d) of the Aviation 

6 and Transportation Security Act (49 U.S.C. 44935 

7 note)), which shall be provided in accordance with 

8 subchapter V of chapter 63 of title 5.’’. 

9 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATING TO

10 SCREENER PERSONNEL.—Section 111(d) of the 

11 Aviation and Transportation Security Act (49 

12 U.S.C. 44935 note) is amended— 

13 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘para14 graph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraphs (2) and 

15 (3)’’; and 

16 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(3) FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE INCLUDING

18 PAID PARENTAL LEAVE.—Notwithstanding any other 

19 provision of law, security screening personnel de20 scribed in paragraph (1) shall be eligible for family 

21 and medical leave (including the ability to substitute 

22 paid leave (including paid parental leave) for any 

23 leave without pay under such family and medical 

24 leave) under subchapter V of chapter 63 of title 5, 


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1 United States Code, and in accordance with section 

2 114(n)(2) of title 49, United States Code.’’. 

3 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall apply with respect to any birth or place5 ment that occurs on or after the date that is 6 months 

6 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

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

9 (a) AMENDMENT 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) (A) 

14 and (B) of such Act to covered employees, sub15 section (d) shall 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 PARENTAL LEAVE

21 FOR CONGRESSIONAL EMPLOYEES.— 

22 ‘‘(1) SUBSTITUTION OF PAID LEAVE.—A cov23 ered employee taking leave without pay under sub24 paragraph (A) or (B) of section 102(a)(1) of the 

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


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1 2612(a)(1)) may elect to substitute for any such 

2 leave any paid leave which is available to such em3 ployee for that purpose. 

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

5 that is available to a covered employee for purposes 

6 of paragraph (1) is— 

7 ‘‘(A) the number of weeks of paid parental 

8 leave in connection with the birth or placement 

9 involved that correspond to the number of ad10 ministrative workweeks of paid parental leave 

11 available to Federal employees under section 

12 6382(d)(3)(A) of title 5, United States Code; 

13 and 

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

15 leave provided by the employing office to such 

16 employee. 

17 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this subsection 

18 shall be considered to require that an employee first 

19 use all or any portion of the leave described in sub20 paragraph (B) of paragraph (2) before being allowed 

21 to use the paid parental leave described in subpara22 graph (A) of paragraph (2). 

23 ‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL RULES.—Paid parental leave 

24 under paragraph (2)(A)— 


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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 amendments made by 

11 this section shall apply with respect to any birth or place12 ment that occurs on or after the date that is 6 months 

13 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

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

16 CONGRESS EMPLOYEES. 

17 (a) AMENDMENT TO FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE

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

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

20 adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR GAO AND LIBRARY OF

22 CONGRESS EMPLOYEES.— 

23 ‘‘(A) SUBSTITUTION OF PAID LEAVE.—An 

24 employee of an employer described in section 

25 101(4)(A)(iv) taking leave under subparagraph 


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1 (A) or (B) of subsection (a)(1) may elect to 

2 substitute for any such leave any paid leave 

3 which is available to such employee for that 

4 purpose. 

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

6 leave that is available to an employee of an em7 ployer described in section 101(4)(A)(iv) for 

8 purposes of subparagraph (A) is— 

9 ‘‘(i) the number of weeks of paid pa10 rental leave in connection with the birth or 

11 placement involved that correspond to the 

12 number of administrative workweeks of 

13 paid parental leave available to Federal 

14 employees under section 6382(d)(3)(A) of 

15 title 5, United States Code; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) any additional paid vacation or 

17 sick leave provided by such employer. 

18 ‘‘(C) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this para19 graph shall be considered to require that an 

20 employee first use all or any portion of the 

21 leave described in clause (ii) of subparagraph 

22 (B) before being allowed to use the paid paren23 tal leave described in clause (i) of such subpara24 graph. 


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1 ‘‘(D) ADDITIONAL RULES.—Paid parental 

2 leave under subparagraph (B)(i)— 

3 ‘‘(i) shall be payable from any appro4 priation or fund available for salaries or 

5 expenses for positions with the employer 

6 described in section 101(4)(A)(iv); and 

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

8 such employer before the end of the 12- 

9 month period (as referred to in subsection 

10 (a)(1)) to which it relates, shall not accu11 mulate for any subsequent use.’’. 

12 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

13 this section shall apply with respect to any birth or place14 ment that occurs on or after the date that is 6 months 

15 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

16 SEC. 5. CLARIFICATION FOR MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL 

17 GUARD AND RESERVES. 

18 (a) EXECUTIVE BRANCH EMPLOYEES.—For pur19 poses of determining the eligibility of an employee who is 

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

21 under subparagraph (A) or (B) of section 6382(a)(1) of 

22 title 5, United States Code, or to substitute such leave 

23 pursuant to subsection (d)(2) of section 6382 of such title 

24 (as added by section 2), any service by such employee on 

25 covered active duty (as defined in section 6381(7) of such 


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1 title) shall be counted as service as an employee for pur2 poses of section 6381(1)(B) of such title. 

3 (b) TSA EMPLOYEES.—For purposes of determining 

4 the eligibility of an employee of the Transportation Secu5 rity Administration (including security screening per6 sonnel described in section 111(d) of the Aviation and 

7 Transportation Security Act (49 U.S.C. 44935 note)) who 

8 is a member of the National Guard or Reserves to take 

9 leave in a circumstance described in subparagraph (A) or 

10 (B) of section 6382(a)(1) of title 5, United States Code, 

11 or to substitute such leave in a manner described in sub12 section (d)(2) of section 6382 of such title (as added by 

13 section 2), any service by such employee on covered active 

14 duty (as defined in section 6381(7) of such title) shall be 

15 counted as service as an employee for purposes of deter16 mining whether the employee has completed 12 months 

17 of service as an employee. 

18 (c) CONGRESSIONAL EMPLOYEES.—For purposes of 

19 determining the eligibility of a covered employee (as such 

20 term is defined in section 101(3) of the Congressional Ac21 countability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301(3))) who is a 

22 member of the National Guard or Reserves to take leave 

23 under subparagraph (A) or (B) of section 102(a)(1) of the 

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

25 2612(a)(1)) (pursuant to section 202(a)(1) of the ConVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 Sep 16, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2033.IS S2033

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1 gressional Accountability Act of 1995), or to substitute 

2 such leave pursuant to subsection (d) of section 202 of 

3 such Act (as added by section 3), any service by such em4 ployee on covered active duty (as defined in section 

5 101(14) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993) 

6 shall be counted as time during which such employee has 

7 been employed in an employing office for purposes of sec8 tion 202(a)(2)(B) of the Congressional Accountability Act 

9 of 1995. 

10 (d) GAO AND LIBRARY OF CONGRESS EMPLOY11 EES.—For purposes of determining the eligibility of an 

12 employee of the Government Accountability Office or Li13 brary of Congress who is a member of the National Guard 

14 or Reserves to take leave under subparagraph (A) or (B) 

15 of section 102(a)(1) of the Family and Medical Leave Act 

16 of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612(a)(1)), or to substitute such 

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

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

19 on covered 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. 

23 SEC. 6. GAO REPORT. 

24 Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment 

25 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 


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1 shall submit to Congress a report on the implementation 

2 of this Act and the amendments made by this Act, which 

3 shall include— 

4 (1) statistical information about the number of 

5 days of paid and unpaid parental leave used by em6 ployees covered by this Act or an amendment made 

7 by this Act according to race, ethnicity, gender, and 

8 pay level; and 

9 (2) an evaluation of the effect of this Act and 

10 the amendments made by this Act on the recruit11 ment and retention of such employees. 

Æ 


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