II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 90 

To establish the Military Family-Friendly Employer Award for employers 

that have developed and implemented workplace flexibility policies to 

assist the working spouses and caregivers of service members, and returning service members, in addressing family and home needs during deployments. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 25 (legislative day, JANUARY 5), 2011 

Mr. CRAPO (for himself and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To establish the Military Family-Friendly Employer Award 

for employers that have developed and implemented 

workplace flexibility policies to assist the working spouses 

and caregivers of service members, and returning service 

members, in addressing family and home needs during 

deployments. 

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 ‘‘Military Family5 Friendly Employer Award Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘employer’’— 

4 (A) means any person (as defined in sec5 tion 3(a) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

6 1938 (29 U.S.C. 202(a))) engaged in commerce 

7 or in any industry or activity affecting com8 merce; and 

9 (B) includes any agency of a State, or po10 litical subdivision thereof. 

11 The term does not include the Government of the 

12 United States or any agency thereof. 

13 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

14 the Secretary of Defense. 

15 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF MILITARY FAMILY-FRIENDLY 

16 EMPLOYER AWARD. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the De18 partment of Defense an annual award to be known as the 

19 Military Family-Friendly Employer Award (hereafter re20 ferred to in this Act as the ‘‘Award’’) for employers that 

21 have developed and implemented workplace flexibility poli22 cies and practices— 

23 (1) to assist the working spouses and caregivers 

24 of members of the Armed Forces who are deployed 

25 away from home, and to assist such members upon 

26 their return from deployment, so that the needs of 


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1 the home may be addressed during and after such 

2 deployments; and 

3 (2) that reflect a deep awareness and commit4 ment in response to the needs of the military family 

5 unit. 

6 (b) PLAQUE.—The Award shall be evidenced by a 

7 plaque bearing the title ‘‘Military Family-Friendly Em8 ployer Award’’. 

9 (c) APPLICATION.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—An employer desiring consid11 eration for an Award shall submit an application to 

12 the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

13 containing such information as such Secretary may 

14 require. 

15 (2) REAPPLICATION.—An employer may re16 apply for an Award, regardless of whether the em17 ployer has been a previous recipient of such Award. 

18 (d) DISPLAY ON WEB SITE.—The Secretary shall 

19 make publically available on its Internet Web site the 

20 names of each recipient of the Award. 

21 (e) PRESENTATION OF AWARD.—The Secretary (or 

22 the Secretary’s designee) shall present annually the Award 

23 to employers under this section. 


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1 SEC. 4. MILITARY FAMILY-FRIENDLY SPECIAL TASK FORCE. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

3 the Department of Defense a Military Family-Friendly 

4 Special Task Force (hereafter referred to in this Act as 

5 the ‘‘Task Force’’). 

6 (b) COMPOSITION.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall be 

8 composed of 9 members to be appointed as follows: 

9 (A) The Secretary shall appoint one indi10 vidual to serve as the chairperson of the Task 

11 Force. 

12 (B) The Secretary, in consultation with the 

13 Secretary of Labor and based on recommenda14 tions made by the majority and minority leaders 

15 of the Senate and the Speaker and minority 

16 leader of the House of Representatives, shall 

17 appoint— 

18 (i) two members who shall be work19 life experts; and 

20 (ii) two members who shall be rep21 resentatives of the general business com22 munity. 

23 (C) The Secretary, based on recommenda24 tions made by the majority and minority leaders 

25 of the Senate and the Speaker and minority 


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1 leader of the House of Representatives, shall 

2 appoint— 

3 (i) two members who shall be experts 

4 on the Armed Forces; and 

5 (ii) two members who shall be rep6 resentatives of families with one or more 

7 members serving in the Armed Forces. 

8 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—In appointing members 

9 of the Task Force the Secretary shall ensure— 

10 (A) that such members are individuals 

11 with knowledge and experience in workplace 

12 flexibility policies as such policies relate to serv13 ices in and support for the Armed Forces; 

14 (B) that not more than 2 members ap15 pointed under paragraph (1)(B) are from the 

16 same political party; and 

17 (C) that not more than 2 members ap18 pointed under paragraph (1)(C) are from the 

19 same political party. 

20 (3) TERMS.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

22 under subparagraphs (B) and (C), each mem23 ber of the Task Force shall be appointed for 2 

24 years and may be reappointed. 


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1 (B) TERMS OF INITIAL APPOINTEES.—As 

2 designated by the Secretary at the time of ap3 pointment, of the members of the Task Force 

4 first appointed, 4 shall each be appointed for a 

5 1-year term and the remainder shall each be 

6 appointed for a 2-year term. 

7 (C) VACANCIES.—Any member of the Task 

8 Force appointed to fill a vacancy occurring be9 fore the expiration of the term for which the 

10 member’s predecessor was appointed shall be 

11 appointed only for the remainder of that term. 

12 A member may serve after the expiration of 

13 that member’s term until a successor has taken 

14 office. 

15 (4) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may not ap16 point any Member of Congress to the Task Force. 

17 (c) DUTIES.—The Task Force shall— 

18 (1) develop and review military-centered ques19 tions for integration into the award model for deter20 mining which applicant employers should receive an 

21 Award; 

22 (2) determine how such questions should be 

23 weighed in making Award determinations what 

24 threshold should be used as the minimum for mak25 ing such Awards; 


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1 (3) review responses to a sample of such ques2 tions posed as part of any questionnaire used for 

3 purposes of making such Awards; 

4 (4) consider private sector award models such 

5 as the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award or 

6 the Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence 

7 in Workplace Flexibility; 

8 (5) determine criteria for the delivery of the 

9 Award; and 

10 (6) carry out any other activities determined 

11 appropriate by the Secretary. 

12 (d) OPERATIONS.— 

13 (1) MEETINGS.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except for the initial 

15 meeting of the Task Force under subparagraph 

16 (B), the Task Force shall meet at the call of 

17 the chairperson or a majority of its members. 

18 (B) INITIAL MEETING.—The Task Force 

19 shall conduct its first meeting not later than 90 

20 days after the appointment of all of its mem21 bers. 

22 (2) VOTING AND RULES.—A majority of mem23 bers of the Task Force shall constitute a quorum to 

24 conduct business. The Task Force may establish by 

25 majority vote any other rules for the conduct of the 


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1 business of the Task Force, if such rules are not in2 consistent with this section or other applicable law. 

3 (3) COMPENSATION AND TRAVEL.—All mem4 bers of the Task Force shall be compensated at a 

5 rate equal to the daily equivalent of the annual rate 

6 of basic pay prescribed for level IV of the Executive 

7 Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United 

8 States Code, for each day (including travel time) 

9 during which such member is engaged in the per10 formance of duties of the Task Force. The members 

11 of the Task Force shall be allowed travel expenses, 

12 including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates 

13 authorized for employees of agencies under sub14 chapter 1 of chapter 57 of title 5, United States 

15 Code, while away from their homes or regular places 

16 of business in the performance of services for the 

17 Task Force. 

18 SEC. 5. REGULATIONS. 

19 The Secretary may prescribe regulations to carry out 

20 the purposes of this Act. 

Æ 


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