II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 354 

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. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 29, 2009 

Mr. WEBB (for himself, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mrs. 

MCCASKILL, Mr. CASEY, Mr. KERRY, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. 

LIEBERMAN, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. STABENOW, and Mrs. GILLIBRAND) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Paid Parental Leave Act of 2009’’. 

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

7 (a) AMENDMENT TO TITLE 5.—Subsection (d) of sec8 tion 6382 of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating such subsection as sub2 section (d)(1); 

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

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

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

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

7 leave without pay under subparagraph (A) or (B) of sub8 section (a)(1) any paid leave which is available to such 

9 employee for that purpose. 

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

11 for purposes of paragraph (2) is— 

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

13 workweeks of paid parental leave under this sub14 paragraph in connection with the birth or placement 

15 involved; and 

16 ‘‘(B) any annual or sick leave accrued or accu17 mulated by such employee under subchapter I. 

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

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

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

21 (3) before being allowed to use the paid parental leave de22 scribed in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3). 

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


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

2 fund available for salaries or expenses for positions 

3 within the employing agency; 

4 ‘‘(B) shall not be considered to be annual or va5 cation leave for purposes of section 5551 or 5552 or 

6 for any other purpose; and 

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

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

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

10 any subsequent use. 

11 ‘‘(6) The Director of the Office of Personnel Manage12 ment— 

13 ‘‘(A) may promulgate regulations to increase 

14 the amount of paid parental leave available to an 

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

16 more than 8 administrative workweeks, based on the 

17 consideration of— 

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

19 Government of offering increased paid parental 

20 leave, including enhanced recruitment and re21 tention of employees; 

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

23 increasing the amount of paid parental leave 

24 that is available to employees; 


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

2 State and local governments with respect to of3 fering paid parental leave; 

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

5 model employer; and 

6 ‘‘(v) such other factors as the Director 

7 considers necessary; and 

8 ‘‘(B) shall prescribe any regulations necessary 

9 to carry out this subsection, including, subject to 

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

11 may designate any day or other period as to which 

12 such employee wishes to use paid parental leave de13 scribed in paragraph (3)(A).’’. 

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

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

16 or placement occurring before the end of the 6-month pe17 riod beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

18 SEC. 3. PAID PARENTAL LEAVE FOR CONGRESSIONAL EM19 PLOYEES. 

20 (a) AMENDMENT TO CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNT21 ABILITY ACT.—Section 202 of the Congressional Account22 ability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1312) is amended— 

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

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


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

2 shall apply.’’; 

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

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

5 (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol6 lowing: 

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

8 FOR CONGRESSIONAL EMPLOYEES.— 

9 ‘‘(1) SUBSTITUTION OF PAID LEAVE.—A cov10 ered employee taking leave without pay under sub11 paragraph (A) or (B) of section 102(a)(1) of the 

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

13 2612(a)(1)) may elect to substitute for any such 

14 leave any paid leave which is available to such em15 ployee for that purpose. 

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

17 that is available to a covered employee for purposes 

18 of paragraph (1) is— 

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

20 leave in connection with the birth or placement 

21 involved that correspond to the number of ad22 ministrative workweeks of paid parental leave 

23 available to Federal employees under section 

24 6382(d)(3)(A) of title 5, United States Code; 

25 and 


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

2 leave provided by the employing office to such 

3 employee. 

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

5 shall be considered to require that a covered em6 ployee first use all or any portion of the leave de7 scribed in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) before 

8 being allowed to use paid parental leave described in 

9 subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2). 

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

11 under paragraph (2)(A)— 

12 ‘‘(A) shall be payable from any appropria13 tion or fund available for salaries or expenses 

14 for positions within the employing office; and 

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

16 before the end of the 12-month period (as re17 ferred to in section 102(a)(1) of the Family and 

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

19 2612(a)(1))) to which it relates, shall not accu20 mulate for any subsequent use.’’. 

21 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

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

23 or placement occurring before the end of the 6-month pe24 riod beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO FAMILY AND MED2 ICAL LEAVE ACT FOR GAO AND LIBRARY OF 

3 CONGRESS EMPLOYEES. 

4 (a) AMENDMENT TO FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE

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

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

7 adding at the end the following: 

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

9 CONGRESS EMPLOYEES.— 

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

11 employee of an employer described in section 

12 101(4)(A)(iv) taking leave under subparagraph 

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

14 substitute for any such leave any paid leave 

15 which is available to such employee for that 

16 purpose. 

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

18 leave that is available to an employee of an em19 ployer described in section 101(4)(A)(iv) for 

20 purposes of subparagraph (A) is— 

21 ‘‘(i) the number of weeks of paid pa22 rental leave in connection with the birth or 

23 placement involved that correspond to the 

24 number of administrative workweeks of 

25 paid parental leave available to Federal 


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

2 title 5, United States Code; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) any additional paid vacation or 

4 sick leave provided by such employer. 

5 ‘‘(C) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this para6 graph shall be considered to require that an 

7 employee of such an employer first use all or 

8 any portion of the leave described in clause (ii) 

9 of subparagraph (B) before being allowed to use 

10 paid parental leave described in clause (i) of 

11 such subparagraph. 

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

13 leave under subparagraph (B)(i)— 

14 ‘‘(i) shall be payable from any appro15 priation or fund available for salaries or 

16 expenses for positions with the employer 

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

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

19 such employer before the end of the 12- 

20 month period (as referred to in subsection 

21 (a)(1)) to which it relates, shall not accu22 mulate for any subsequent use.’’. 

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

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


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1 or placement occurring before the end of the 6-month pe2 riod beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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