II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1894 

To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to provide family 

and medical leave to primary caregivers of servicemembers with combatrelated injuries. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 27 (legislative day, JULY 26), 2007 

Mr. REID (for Mr. DODD (for himself, Mr. NELSON of Nebraska, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. REED, and Mr. LIEBERMAN)) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to 

provide family and medical leave to primary caregivers 

of servicemembers with combat-related injuries. 

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 ‘‘Support for Injured 

5 Servicemembers Act of 2007’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SERVICEMEMBER FAMILY LEAVE. 

2 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 101 of the Family and 

3 Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611) is amended 

4 by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(14) COMBAT-RELATED INJURY.—The term 

6 ‘combat-related injury’ means an injury or illness 

7 that was incurred (as determined under criteria pre8 scribed by the Secretary of Defense)— 

9 ‘‘(A) as a direct result of armed conflict; 

10 ‘‘(B) while an individual was engaged in 

11 hazardous service; 

12 ‘‘(C) in the performance of duty under 

13 conditions simulating war; or 

14 ‘‘(D) through an instrumentality of war. 

15 ‘‘(15) SERVICEMEMBER.—The term 

16 ‘servicemember’ means a member of the Armed 

17 Forces.’’. 

18 (b) ENTITLEMENT TO LEAVE.—Section 102(a) of 

19 such Act (29 U.S.C. 2612(a)) is amended by adding at 

20 the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(3) SERVICEMEMBER FAMILY LEAVE.—Subject 

22 to section 103, an eligible employee who is the pri23 mary caregiver for a servicemember with a combat24 related injury shall be entitled to a total of 26 work25 weeks of leave during any 12-month period to care 

26 for the servicemember. 


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1 ‘‘(4) COMBINED LEAVE TOTAL.—An eligible 

2 employee shall be entitled to a combined total of 26 

3 workweeks of leave under paragraphs (1) and (3).’’. 

4 (c) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO LEAVE.— 

5 (1) SCHEDULE.—Section 102(b) of such Act 

6 (29 U.S.C. 2612(b)) is amended— 

7 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting after 

8 the second sentence the following: ‘‘Subject to 

9 paragraph (2), leave under subsection (a)(3) 

10 may be taken intermittently or on a reduced 

11 leave schedule’’; and 

12 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘or sub13 section (a)(3)’’ after ‘‘subsection (a)(1)’’. 

14 (2) SUBSTITUTION OF PAID LEAVE.—Section 

15 102(d) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2612(d)) is amend16 ed— 

17 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

18 (i) by inserting ‘‘(or 26 workweeks in 

19 the case of leave provided under subsection 

20 (a)(3))’’ after ‘‘12 workweeks’’ the first 

21 place it appears; and 

22 (ii) by inserting ‘‘(or 26 workweeks, 

23 as appropriate)’’ after ‘‘12 workweeks’’ the 

24 second place it appears; and 


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1 (B) in paragraph (2)(B), by adding at the 

2 end the following: ‘‘An eligible employee may 

3 elect, or an employer may require the employee, 

4 to substitute any of the accrued paid vacation 

5 leave, personal leave, family leave, or medical or 

6 sick leave of the employee for leave provided 

7 under subsection (a)(3) for any part of the 26- 

8 week period of such leave under such sub9 section.’’. 

10 (3) NOTICE.—Section 102(e) of such Act (29 

11 U.S.C. 2612(e)) is amended by adding at the end 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘(3) NOTICE FOR SERVICEMEMBER FAMILY

14 LEAVE.—In any case in which an employee seeks 

15 leave under subsection (a)(3), the employee shall 

16 provide such notice as is practicable.’’. 

17 (4) CERTIFICATION.—Section 103 of such Act 

18 (29 U.S.C. 2613) is amended by adding at the end 

19 the following: 

20 ‘‘(f) CERTIFICATION FOR SERVICEMEMBER FAMILY

21 LEAVE.—An employer may require that a request for 

22 leave under section 102(a)(3) be supported by a certifi23 cation issued at such time and in such manner as the Sec24 retary may by regulation prescribe.’’. 


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1 (5) FAILURE TO RETURN.—Section 104(c) of 

2 such Act (29 U.S.C. 2614(c)) is amended— 

3 (A) in paragraph (2)(B)(i), by inserting 

4 ‘‘or section 102(a)(3)’’ before the semicolon; 

5 and 

6 (B) in paragraph (3)(A)— 

7 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

8 the end; 

9 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking the pe10 riod and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

11 (iii) by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(iii) a certification issued by the 

14 health care provider of the person for 

15 whom the employee is the primary care16 giver, in the case of an employee unable to 

17 return to work because of a condition spec18 ified in section 102(a)(3).’’. 

19 (6) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 107 of such Act 

20 (29 U.S.C. 2617) is amended, in subsection 

21 (a)(1)(A)(i)(II), by inserting ‘‘(or 26 weeks, in a 

22 case involving leave under section 102(a)(3))’’ after 

23 ‘‘12 weeks’’. 

24 (7) INSTRUCTIONAL EMPLOYEES.—Section 108 

25 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2618) is amended, in subVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:33 Jul 27, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1894.IS S1894

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1 sections (c)(1), (d)(2), and (d)(3), by inserting ‘‘or 

2 section 102(a)(3)’’ after ‘‘section 102(a)(1)’’. 

3 SEC. 3. SERVICEMEMBER FAMILY LEAVE FOR CIVIL SERV4 ICE EMPLOYEES. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 6381 of title 5, United 

6 States Code, is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

8 end; 

9 (2) in paragraph (6), by striking the period and 

10 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

12 ‘‘(7) the term ‘combat-related injury’ means an 

13 injury or illness that was incurred (as determined 

14 under criteria prescribed by the Secretary of De15 fense)— 

16 ‘‘(A) as a direct result of armed conflict; 

17 ‘‘(B) while an individual was engaged in 

18 hazardous service; 

19 ‘‘(C) in the performance of duty under 

20 conditions simulating war; or 

21 ‘‘(D) through an instrumentality of war; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(8) the term ‘servicemember’ means a member 

24 of the Armed Forces.’’. 


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1 (b) ENTITLEMENT TO LEAVE.—Section 6382(a) of 

2 such title is amended by adding at the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(3) Subject to section 6383, an employee who 

4 is the primary caregiver for a servicemember with a 

5 combat-related injury shall be entitled to a total of 

6 26 administrative workweeks of leave during any 12- 

7 month period to care for the servicemember. 

8 ‘‘(4) An employee shall be entitled to a com9 bined total of 26 administrative workweeks of leave 

10 under paragraphs (1) and (3).’’. 

11 (c) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO LEAVE.— 

12 (1) SCHEDULE.—Section 6382(b) of such title 

13 is amended— 

14 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting after 

15 the second sentence the following: ‘‘Subject to 

16 paragraph (2), leave under subsection (a)(3) 

17 may be taken intermittently or on a reduced 

18 leave schedule.’’; and 

19 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘or sub20 section (a)(3)’’ after ‘‘subsection (a)(1)’’. 

21 (2) SUBSTITUTION OF PAID LEAVE.—Section 

22 6382(d) of such title is amended by adding at the 

23 end the following: ‘‘An employee may elect to sub24 stitute for leave under subsection (a)(3) any of the 

25 employee’s accrued or accumulated annual or sick 


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1 leave under subchapter I for any part of the 26-week 

2 period of leave under such subsection.’’. 

3 (3) NOTICE.—Section 6382(e) of such title is 

4 amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(3) In any case in which an employee seeks leave 

6 under subsection (a)(3), the employee shall provide such 

7 notice as is practicable.’’. 

8 (4) CERTIFICATION.—Section 6383 of such title 

9 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(f) An employing agency may require that a request 

11 for leave under section 6382(a)(3) be supported by a cer12 tification issued at such time and in such manner as the 

13 Office of Personnel Management may by regulation pre14 scribe.’’. 

Æ 


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