IIB 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 626 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 8, 2009 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To provide that 4 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Employees 

3 Paid Parental Leave Act of 2009’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PAID PARENTAL LEAVE UNDER TITLE 5. 

5 (a) AMENDMENT TO TITLE 5.—Subsection (d) of sec6 tion 6382 of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating such subsection as sub8 section (d)(1); 

9 (2) by striking ‘‘subparagraph (A), (B), (C), 

10 or’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (C) or’’; and 

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

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

13 leave without pay under subparagraph (A) or (B) of sub14 section (a)(1) any paid leave which is available to such 

15 employee for that purpose. 

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

17 for purposes of paragraph (2) is— 

18 ‘‘(A) subject to paragraph (6), 4 administrative 

19 workweeks of paid parental leave under this sub20 paragraph in connection with the birth or placement 

21 involved; and 

22 ‘‘(B) any annual or sick leave accrued or accu23 mulated by such employee under subchapter I. 

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

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

26 of the leave described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph 


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1 (3) before being allowed to use the paid parental leave de2 scribed in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3). 

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

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

5 fund available for salaries or expenses for positions 

6 within the employing agency; 

7 ‘‘(B) shall not be considered to be annual or va8 cation leave for purposes of section 5551 or 5552 or 

9 for any other purpose; and 

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

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

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

13 any subsequent use. 

14 ‘‘(6) The Director of the Office of Personnel Manage15 ment— 

16 ‘‘(A) may promulgate regulations to increase 

17 the amount of paid parental leave available to an 

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

19 more than 8 administrative workweeks, based on the 

20 consideration of— 

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

22 Government of offering increased paid parental 

23 leave, including enhanced recruitment and re24 tention of employees; 


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

2 increasing the amount of paid parental leave 

3 that is available to employees; 

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

5 State and local governments with respect to of6 fering paid parental leave; 

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

8 model employer; 

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

10 leave on lower-income and economically dis11 advantaged employees and their children; and 

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

13 considers necessary; and 

14 ‘‘(B) shall prescribe any regulations necessary 

15 to carry out this subsection, including, subject to 

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

17 may designate any day or other period as to which 

18 such employee wishes to use paid parental leave de19 scribed in paragraph (3)(A).’’. 

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

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

22 or placement occurring before the end of the 6-month pe23 riod beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 3. PAID PARENTAL LEAVE FOR CONGRESSIONAL EM2 PLOYEES. 

3 (a) AMENDMENT TO CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNT4 ABILITY ACT.—Section 202 of the Congressional Account5 ability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1312) is amended— 

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

7 the following: ‘‘In applying section 102(a)(1)(A) and 

8 (B) of such Act to covered employees, subsection (d) 

9 shall apply.’’; 

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

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

12 (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULE FOR PAID PARENTAL LEAVE

15 FOR CONGRESSIONAL EMPLOYEES.— 

16 ‘‘(1) SUBSTITUTION OF PAID LEAVE.—A cov17 ered employee taking leave without pay under sub18 paragraph (A) or (B) of section 102(a)(1) of the 

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

20 2612(a)(1)) may elect to substitute for any such 

21 leave any paid leave which is available to such em22 ployee for that purpose. 

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

24 that is available to a covered employee for purposes 

25 of paragraph (1) is— 


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

2 leave in connection with the birth or placement 

3 involved that correspond to the number of ad4 ministrative workweeks of paid parental leave 

5 available to Federal employees under section 

6 6382(d)(3)(A) of title 5, United States Code; 

7 and 

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

9 leave provided by the employing office to such 

10 employee. 

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

12 shall be considered to require that an employee first 

13 use all or any portion of the leave described in sub14 paragraph (B) of paragraph (2) before being allowed 

15 to use the paid parental leave described in subpara16 graph (A) of paragraph (2). 

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

18 under paragraph (2)(A)— 

19 ‘‘(A) shall be payable from any appropria20 tion or fund available for salaries or expenses 

21 for positions within the employing office; and 

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

23 before the end of the 12-month period (as re24 ferred to in section 102(a)(1) of the Family and 

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


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1 2612(a)(1))) to which it relates, shall not accu2 mulate for any subsequent use.’’. 

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. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO FAMILY AND MED8 ICAL LEAVE ACT FOR GAO AND LIBRARY OF 

9 CONGRESS EMPLOYEES. 

10 (a) AMENDMENT TO FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE

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

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

13 adding at the end the following: 

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

15 CONGRESS EMPLOYEES.— 

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

17 employee of an employer described in section 

18 101(4)(A)(iv) taking leave under subparagraph 

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

20 substitute for any such leave any paid leave 

21 which is available to such employee for that 

22 purpose. 

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

24 leave that is available to an employee of an emVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:31 Jun 08, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H626.RFS H626

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1 ployer described in section 101(4)(A)(iv) for 

2 purposes of subparagraph (A) is— 

3 ‘‘(i) the number of weeks of paid pa4 rental leave in connection with the birth or 

5 placement involved that correspond to the 

6 number of administrative workweeks of 

7 paid parental leave available to Federal 

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

9 title 5, United States Code; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) any additional paid vacation or 

11 sick leave provided by such employer. 

12 ‘‘(C) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this para13 graph shall be considered to require that an 

14 employee first use all or any portion of the 

15 leave described in clause (ii) of subparagraph 

16 (B) before being allowed to use the paid paren17 tal leave described in clause (i) of such subpara18 graph. 

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

20 leave under subparagraph (B)(i)— 

21 ‘‘(i) shall be payable from any appro22 priation or fund available for salaries or 

23 expenses for positions with the employer 

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


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

2 such employer before the end of the 12- 

3 month period (as referred to in subsection 

4 (a)(1)) to which it relates, shall not accu5 mulate for any subsequent use.’’. 

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

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

8 or placement occurring before the end of the 6-month pe9 riod beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

10 SEC. 5. CLARIFICATION FOR MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL 

11 GUARD AND RESERVES. 

12 (a) EXECUTIVE BRANCH EMPLOYEES.—For pur13 poses of determining the eligibility of an employee who is 

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

15 under paragraph (1)(A) or (B) of section 6382(a) of title 

16 5, United States Code, or to substitute such leave pursu17 ant to paragraph (2) of such section (as added by section 

18 2), any service by such employee on active duty (as defined 

19 in section 6381(7) of such title) shall be counted as service 

20 as an employee for purposes of section 6381(1)(B) of such 

21 title. 

22 (b) CONGRESSIONAL EMPLOYEES.—For purposes of 

23 determining the eligibility of a covered employee (as such 

24 term is defined in section 101(3) of the Congressional Ac25 countability Act) who is a member of the National Guard 


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

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

3 of 1993 (pursuant to section 202(a)(1) of the Congres4 sional Accountability Act), or to substitute such leave pur5 suant to subsection (d) of section 202 of such Act (as 

6 added by section 3), any service by such employee on ac7 tive duty (as defined in section 101(14) of the Family and 

8 Medical Leave Act of 1993) shall be counted as time dur9 ing which such employee has been employed in an employ10 ing office for purposes of section 202(a)(2)(B) of the Con11 gressional Accountability Act. 

12 (c) GAO AND LIBRARY OF CONGRESS EMPLOY13 EES.—For purposes of determining the eligibility of an 

14 employee of the Government Accountability Office or Li15 brary of Congress who is a member of the National Guard 

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

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

18 of 1993, or to substitute such leave pursuant to paragraph 

19 (3) of section 102(d) of such Act (as added by section 

20 4), any service by such employee on active duty (as defined 

21 in section 101(14) of such Act) shall be counted as time 


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1 during which such employee has been employed for pur2 poses of section 101(2)(A) of such Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 4, 2009. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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