I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5519 

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

States Code, to permit leave to care for a domestic partner, parentin-law, adult child, sibling, grandchild, or grandparent who has a serious 

health condition, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 16, 2016 

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York (for herself, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, 

Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. LEE, Mr. NADLER, and 

Mr. JEFFRIES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration and Oversight and Government Reform, 

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 permit leave to care 

for a domestic partner, parent-in-law, adult child, sibling, 

grandchild, or grandparent who has a serious health 

condition, 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, 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 5519 IH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Family and Medical 

3 Leave Inclusion Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. LEAVE TO CARE FOR A DOMESTIC PARTNER, PAR5 ENT-IN-LAW, ADULT CHILD, SIBLING, GRAND6 PARENT, GRANDCHILD, OR OTHER INDI7 VIDUAL RELATED BY BLOOD OR AFFINITY. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.— 

9 (1) INCLUSION OF GRANDPARENTS, GRAND10 CHILDREN, PARENTS-IN-LAW, SIBLINGS, AND DO11 MESTIC PARTNERS.—Section 101 of such Act is fur12 ther amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(20) DOMESTIC PARTNER.—The term ‘domes14 tic partner’ means— 

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

16 partner of the employee under any domestic 

17 partner registry or civil union laws of the State 

18 or political subdivision of a State; or 

19 ‘‘(B) in the case of an unmarried em20 ployee, an unmarried adult person who is in a 

21 committed, personal relationship with the em22 ployee, is not a domestic partner to any other 

23 person, and who is designated to the employer 

24 by such employee as that employee’s domestic 

25 partner. 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 5519 IH

1 ‘‘(21) GRANDCHILD.—The term ‘grandchild’ 

2 means the son or daughter of an employee’s son or 

3 daughter. 

4 ‘‘(22) GRANDPARENT.—The term ‘grandparent’ 

5 means a parent of a parent of an employee. 

6 ‘‘(23) PARENT-IN-LAW.—The term ‘parent-in7 law’ means a parent of the spouse or domestic part8 ner of an employee. 

9 ‘‘(24) SIBLING.—The term ‘sibling’ means any 

10 person who is a son or daughter of an employee’s 

11 parent. 

12 ‘‘(25) SON-IN-LAW AND DAUGHTER-IN-LAW.— 

13 The terms ‘son-in-law’ and ‘daughter-in-law’, used 

14 with respect to an employee, means any person who 

15 is a spouse or domestic partner of a son or daughter 

16 of the employee.’’. 

17 (2) INCLUSION OF ADULT CHILDREN AND CHIL18 DREN OF A DOMESTIC PARTNER.—Section 101(12) 

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

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

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

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

23 follows and inserting ‘‘and includes an adult 

24 child’’. 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 5519 IH

1 (b) LEAVE REQUIREMENT.—Section 102 of the Fam2 ily and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612) is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (a)(1)(C), by striking ‘‘spouse, 

5 or a son, daughter, or parent of the employee, if 

6 such spouse, son, daughter, or parent’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘spouse or domestic partner, or a son, daughter, 

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

9 sibling, of the employee, or any other individual re10 lated by blood or affinity whose close association 

11 with the employee is the equivalent of a family rela12 tionship, if such spouse, domestic partner, son, 

13 daughter, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grand14 child, sibling, or such other individual’’; 

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

16 or a son, daughter, or parent of the employee’’ and 

17 inserting ‘‘spouse or domestic partner, or a son, 

18 daughter, parent, parent-in-law, grandchild, or sib19 ling of the employee, or any other individual related 

20 by blood or affinity whose close association with the 

21 employee is the equivalent of a family relationship’’; 

22 (3) in subsection (a)(3), by striking ‘‘spouse, 

23 son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of a covered 

24 servicemember’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse or domestic 

25 partner, son, daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 5519 IH

1 parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, or sibling, or 

2 next of kin of a covered servicemember, or any other 

3 individual related by blood or affinity to a covered 

4 servicemember who close association with such serv5 icemember is the equivalent of a family relation6 ship’’; 

7 (4) in subsection (e)(2)(A), by striking ‘‘spouse, 

8 parent, or covered servicemember of the employee’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘spouse or domestic partner, parent, 

10 parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, or 

11 covered servicemember of the employee, or any other 

12 individual related by blood or affinity whose close as13 sociation with the employee is the equivalent of a 

14 family relationship’’; 

15 (5) in subsection (e)(3), by striking ‘‘spouse, or 

16 a son, daughter, or parent, of the employee’’ and in17 serting ‘‘spouse or domestic partner, or a son, 

18 daughter, parent, parent-in-law, grandchild, or sib19 ling, of the employee, or any other individual related 

20 by blood or affinity whose close association with the 

21 employee is the equivalent of a family relationship’’; 

22 and 

23 (6) in subsection (f)— 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 5519 IH

1 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

2 (A), by inserting ‘‘or domestic partners’’ after 

3 ‘‘husband and wife’’; and 

4 (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘or 

5 parent-in-law’’ after ‘‘parent’’. 

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

7 Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2613) is amend8 ed— 

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

10 parent of the employee, or of the next of kin of an 

11 individual in the case of leave taken under such 

12 paragraph (3), as appropriate’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘spouse or domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, 

14 grandparent, grandchild, or sibling of the employee, 

15 or of the next of kin of an individual in the case of 

16 leave taken under such paragraph (3), as appro17 priate, or any other individual related by blood or af18 finity whose close association with the employee is 

19 the equivalent of a family relationship’’; 

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

21 or parent and an estimate of the amount of time 

22 that such employee is needed to care for the son, 

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

24 or domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, grand25 parent, grandchild, sibling, or any other individual 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 5519 IH

1 related by blood or affinity whose close association 

2 with the employee is the equivalent of a family rela3 tionship and an estimate of the amount of time that 

4 such employee is needed to care for such son, daugh5 ter, spouse or domestic partner, parent, parent-in6 law, grandparent, sibling, or such other individual’’; 

7 and 

8 (3) in subsection (b)(7), by striking ‘‘parent, or 

9 spouse’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse or domestic partner, 

10 parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sib11 ling, or any other individual related by blood or af12 finity whose close association with the employee is 

13 the equivalent of a family relationship’’. 

14 (d) EMPLOYMENT AND BENEFITS PROTECTION.— 

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

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

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

18 or parent’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse or domestic part19 ner, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, 

20 sibling, or any other individual related by blood or 

21 affinity whose close association with the employee is 

22 the equivalent of a family relationship’’; and 

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

24 ‘‘spouse, or parent’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse or domes25 tic partner, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 5519 IH

1 grandchild, sibling, or any other individual related 

2 by blood or affinity whose close association with the 

3 employee is the equivalent of a family relationship’’. 

4 SEC. 3. FEDERAL EMPLOYEES. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.— 

6 (1) INCLUSION OF DOMESTIC PARTNERS, PAR7 ENTS-IN-LAW, ADULT CHILDREN, SIBLINGS, GRAND8 PARENTS, GRANDCHILDREN, OR OTHER INDIVIDUALS

9 RELATED BY BLOOD OR AFFINITY.—Section 6381 of 

10 title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

11 (A) in paragraph (11) by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

12 and inserting a semicolon; 

13 (B) in paragraph (12), by striking the pe14 riod and inserting a semicolon; and 

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

16 ‘‘(13) the term ‘domestic partner’ means— 

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

18 partner of the employee under any domestic 

19 partner registry or civil union laws of the State 

20 or political subdivision of a State; or 

21 ‘‘(B) in the case of an unmarried em22 ployee, an unmarried adult person who is in a 

23 committed, personal relationship with the em24 ployee, is not a domestic partner to any other 

25 person, and who is designated to the employing 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 5519 IH

1 agency by such employee as that employee’s do2 mestic partner; 

3 ‘‘(14) the term ‘parent-in-law’ means a parent 

4 of the spouse or domestic partner of an employee; 

5 ‘‘(15) the term ‘grandchild’ means the son or 

6 daughter of an employee’s son or daughter; 

7 ‘‘(16) the term ‘grandparent’ means a parent of 

8 a parent of an employee; 

9 ‘‘(17) the term ‘sibling’ means any person who 

10 is a son or daughter of an employee’s parent; and 

11 ‘‘(18) the terms ‘son-in-law and daughter-in12 law’, used with respect to an employee, means any 

13 person who is a spouse or domestic partner of a son 

14 or daughter of the employee.’’. 

15 (2) INCLUSION OF ADULT CHILDREN AND CHIL16 DREN OF A DOMESTIC PARTNER.—Section 6381(6) 

17 of such title is amended— 

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

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

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

21 follows and inserting ‘‘and includes an adult 

22 child’’. 

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

24 United States Code, is amended— 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 5519 IH

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

2 or a son, daughter, or parent of the employee, if 

3 such spouse, son, daughter, or parent’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘spouse or domestic partner, or a son, daughter, 

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

6 sibling, of the employee, or any other individual re7 lated by blood or affinity whose close association 

8 with the employee is the equivalent of a family rela9 tionship, if such spouse, domestic partner, son, 

10 daughter, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grand11 child, sibling, or such other individual’’; 

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

13 or a son, daughter, or parent’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse 

14 or domestic partner, or a son, daughter, parent, par15 ent-in-law, grandchild, sibling, or any other indi16 vidual related by blood or affinity whose close asso17 ciation with the employee is the equivalent of a fam18 ily relationship’’; 

19 (3) in subsection (a)(3), by striking ‘‘spouse, 

20 son, daughter, parent,’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse or do21 mestic partner, son, daughter, son-in-law, daughter22 in-law, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, sibling, 

23 or any other individual related by blood or affinity 

24 whose close association with the employee is the 

25 equivalent of a family relationship,’’; 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 5519 IH

1 (4) in subsection (e)(2)(A), by striking ‘‘spouse, 

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

3 parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sib4 ling, or any other individual related by blood or af5 finity whose close association with the employee is 

6 the equivalent of a family relationship,’’; and 

7 (5) in subsection (e)(3), by striking ‘‘spouse, or 

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

9 or domestic partner, or a son, daughter, parent, par10 ent-in-law, grandchild, sibling, or any other indi11 vidual related by blood or affinity whose close asso12 ciation with the employee is the equivalent of a fam13 ily relationship,’’. 

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

15 States Code, is amended— 

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

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

18 parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sib19 ling, or any other individual related by blood or af20 finity whose close association with the employee is 

21 the equivalent of a family relationship,’’; and 

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

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

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

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


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
12 

•HR 5519 IH

1 or domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, grand2 parent, grandchild, sibling, or any other individual 

3 related by blood or affinity whose close association 

4 with the employee is the equivalent of a family rela5 tionship and an estimate of the amount of time that 

6 such employee is needed to care for such son, daugh7 ter, spouse or domestic partner, parent, parent-in8 law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, or such other 

9 individual’’. 

Æ 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS