II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1885 

To provide certain employment protections for family members who are caring 

for members of the Armed Forces recovering from illnesses and injuries 

incurred on active duty. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 26, 2007 

Mr. REID (for Mr. OBAMA (for himself, Mrs. MCCASKILL, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. 

KERRY, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. BIDEN, Mr. DURBIN, and Mr. KENNEDY)) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To provide certain employment protections for family members who are caring for members of the Armed Forces 

recovering from illnesses and injuries incurred on active 

duty. 

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 Family Job 

5 Protection Act’’. 


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•S 1885 IS

1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOY2 MENT AGAINST CERTAIN FAMILY MEMBERS 

3 CARING FOR RECOVERING MEMBERS OF THE 

4 ARMED FORCES. 

5 (a) PROHIBITION.—A family member of a recovering 

6 servicemember described in subsection (b) shall not be de7 nied retention in employment, promotion, or any benefit 

8 of employment by an employer on the basis of the family 

9 member’s absence from employment as described in that 

10 subsection, for a period of not more than 52 workweeks. 

11 (b) COVERED FAMILY MEMBERS.—A family member 

12 described in this subsection is a family member of a recov13 ering servicemember who is— 

14 (1) on invitational orders while caring for the 

15 recovering servicemember; 

16 (2) a non-medical attendee caring for the recov17 ering servicemember; or 

18 (3) receiving per diem payments from the De19 partment of Defense while caring for the recovering 

20 servicemember. 

21 (c) TREATMENT OF ACTIONS.—An employer shall be 

22 considered to have engaged in an action prohibited by sub23 section (a) with respect to a person described in that sub24 section if the absence from employment of the person as 

25 described in that subsection is a motivating factor in the 

26 employer’s action, unless the employer can prove that the 


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•S 1885 IS

1 action would have been taken in the absence of the absence 

2 of employment of the person. 

3 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) BENEFIT OF EMPLOYMENT.—The term 

5 ‘‘benefit of employment’’ has the meaning given such 

6 term in section 4303 of title 38, United States Code. 

7 (2) CARING FOR.—The term ‘‘caring for’’, used 

8 with respect to a recovering servicemember, means 

9 providing personal, medical, or convalescent care to 

10 the recovering servicemember, under circumstances 

11 that substantially interfere with an employee’s abil12 ity to work. 

13 (3) EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘employer’’ has the 

14 meaning given such term in section 4303 of title 38, 

15 United States Code, except that the term does not 

16 include any person who is not considered to be an 

17 employer under title I of the Family and Medical 

18 Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611 et seq.) because 

19 the person does not meet the requirements of section 

20 101(4)(A)(i) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2611(4)(A)(i)). 

21 (4) FAMILY MEMBER.—The term ‘‘family mem22 ber’’, with respect to a recovering servicemember, 

23 has the meaning given that term in section 411h(b) 

24 of title 37, United States Code. 


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1 (5) RECOVERING SERVICEMEMBER.—The term 

2 ‘‘recovering servicemember’’ means a member of the 

3 Armed Forces, including a member of the National 

4 Guard or a Reserve, who is undergoing medical 

5 treatment, recuperation, or therapy, or is otherwise 

6 in medical hold or medical holdover status, for an in7 jury, illness, or disease incurred or aggravated while 

8 on active duty in the Armed Forces. 

Æ 


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