II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1131 

To establish family and medical leave banks to provide paid leave for 

employees of the Department of Defense, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 10, 2019 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself and Mr. ROUNDS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish family and medical leave banks to provide paid 

leave for employees of the Department of Defense, 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. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FAMILY AND MED4 ICAL LEAVE BANKS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter V of chapter 63 of 

6 title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating section 6387 as section 

8 6388; and 


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1 (2) by inserting after section 6386 the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘§ 6387. Department of Defense family and medical 

4 leave banks 

5 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

6 ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered DOD employee’ means 

7 an individual described in section 6381(1)(A) who is 

8 employed by the Department, without regard to 

9 whether the individual meets the requirements of 

10 section 6381(1)(B); 

11 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Department’ means the Depart12 ment of Defense; 

13 ‘‘(3) the term ‘designated unit’ means any 

14 agency, component, or other administrative unit of 

15 the Department designated by the Secretary under 

16 subsection (b)(1); 

17 ‘‘(4) the term ‘family and medical leave bank’ 

18 means a family and medical leave bank established 

19 under subsection (b)(2); 

20 ‘‘(5) the term ‘leave recipient’ means a covered 

21 DOD employee whose application under subsection 

22 (e)(1) to receive leave from a family and medical 

23 leave bank is approved; and 

24 ‘‘(6) the term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary 

25 of Defense. 


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1 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF FAMILY AND MEDICAL

2 LEAVE BANKS.—The Secretary, in consultation with the 

3 Director of the Office of Personnel Management, shall— 

4 ‘‘(1) designate the agencies, components, or 

5 other administrative units of the Department for 

6 which it is appropriate to have a separate family and 

7 medical leave bank; and 

8 ‘‘(2) establish a family and medical leave bank 

9 for each designated unit. 

10 ‘‘(c) ESTABLISHMENT OF FAMILY AND MEDICAL

11 LEAVE BANK BOARDS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For each family and med13 ical leave bank established by the Secretary, the Sec14 retary shall establish a Family and Medical Leave 

15 Bank Board consisting of 3 members, at least one 

16 of whom shall represent a labor organization or em17 ployee group, to administer the family and medical 

18 leave bank, in consultation with the Office of Per19 sonnel Management. 

20 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—Each Family and Medical Leave 

21 Bank Board, in conjunction with the human re22 source office for the agency, component, or adminis23 trative unit for which the applicable family and med24 ical leave bank was established, shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) review and determine whether to ap2 prove applications to the family and medical 

3 leave bank under subsection (e)(1); 

4 ‘‘(B) monitor each case of a leave recipi5 ent; 

6 ‘‘(C) monitor the amount of leave in the 

7 family and medical leave bank and the number 

8 of applications for use of leave from the family 

9 and medical leave bank; and 

10 ‘‘(D) maintain an adequate amount of 

11 leave in the family and medical leave bank to 

12 the greatest extent practicable. 

13 ‘‘(3) QUALIFYING FAMILY AND MEDICAL

14 EVENTS.—To the greatest extent practicable, each 

15 Family and Medical Leave Bank Board shall use the 

16 certification forms and standards established for 

17 purposes of section 6382 in determining whether, for 

18 purposes of this section, a circumstance described in 

19 section 6382(a)(1) exists. 

20 ‘‘(d) CREDITING OF LEAVE.— 

21 ‘‘(1) FORFEITED LEAVE.—Any annual leave 

22 lost by a covered DOD employee by operation of sec23 tion 6304 shall be credited to the family and medical 

24 leave bank of the designated unit in which the cov25 ered DOD employee is employed. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL ANNUAL LEAVE CONTRIBU2 TIONS.—This section shall not supersede or modify 

3 the ability of a covered DOD employee to donate 

4 earned annual leave to a qualified recipient under 

5 regulations of the Department. 

6 ‘‘(3) CONTRIBUTIONS OF USE OR LOSE

7 LEAVE.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A covered DOD em9 ployee who is projected to have annual leave 

10 that otherwise would be subject to forfeiture at 

11 the end of the leave year under section 6304 

12 may submit an application in writing requesting 

13 that a specified number of hours (not to exceed 

14 the number of hours projected to be subject to 

15 forfeiture) be transferred from the annual leave 

16 account of the covered DOD employee to the 

17 family and medical leave bank for the des18 ignated unit in which the covered DOD em19 ployee is employed. 

20 ‘‘(B) APPROVAL.—If a Family and Medical 

21 Leave Bank Board approves an application by 

22 a covered DOD employee under subparagraph 

23 (A), the Secretary shall transfer to the family 

24 and medical leave bank of the designated unit 

25 in which the covered DOD employee is emVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1131.IS S1131

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1 ployed the amount of leave requested to be 

2 transferred. 

3 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION FOR LEAVE.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered DOD employee 

5 who is or anticipates being absent from regularly 

6 scheduled duty because of a circumstance described 

7 in section 6382(a)(1) (without regard to whether the 

8 covered DOD employee is entitled to leave under 

9 section 6382(a)(1)) may submit an application to re10 ceive leave from the family and medical leave bank 

11 of the designated unit in which the covered DOD 

12 employee is employed, which shall contain such in13 formation as the Secretary, in consultation with the 

14 Director of the Office of Personnel Management, 

15 shall by regulation prescribe. 

16 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION.—A Family and Medical 

17 Leave Bank Board may— 

18 ‘‘(A) approve an application submitted 

19 under paragraph (1); and 

20 ‘‘(B) specify the amount of leave that shall 

21 be transferred to a covered DOD employee 

22 whose application is approved. 

23 ‘‘(3) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF LEAVE.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A Family and Medical 

25 Leave Bank Board may not specify an amount 


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1 of leave to be transferred to a covered DOD 

2 employee that is more than the amount of leave 

3 described in subparagraph (B). 

4 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT.—The amount described in 

5 this subparagraph is— 

6 ‘‘(i) with respect to a full-time covered 

7 DOD employee, 12 weeks; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) with respect to a part-time cov9 ered DOD employee, the amount equal to 

10 the product obtained by multiplying— 

11 ‘‘(I) 12 weeks; by 

12 ‘‘(II) the quotient obtained by di13 viding— 

14 ‘‘(aa) the number of hours 

15 in the regularly scheduled work16 week of the part-time covered 

17 DOD employee; by 

18 ‘‘(bb) the number of hours 

19 in the regularly scheduled work20 week of a covered DOD employee 

21 serving in a comparable position 

22 on a full-time basis. 

23 ‘‘(4) TRANSFER.—The Secretary shall transfer 

24 to a covered DOD employee whose application is ap25 proved under paragraph (2)(A) the number of hours 


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1 of leave specified under paragraph (2)(B) from the 

2 family and medical leave bank for the designated 

3 unit in which the covered DOD employee is em4 ployed. 

5 ‘‘(f) USE OF LEAVE.— 

6 ‘‘(1) COORDINATION WITH EXISTING FML.—A 

7 leave recipient who is entitled to leave under section 

8 6382(a)(1) shall use any leave transferred to the 

9 leave recipient from a family and medical leave bank 

10 in accordance with section 6382(d)(2). 

11 ‘‘(2) FAILURE TO USE LEAVE.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any leave transferred 

13 to a leave recipient from a family and medical 

14 leave bank that is not used before the end of 

15 the 12-month period beginning on the date de16 scribed in subparagraph (B)— 

17 ‘‘(i) shall be forfeited by the leave re18 cipient; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) shall be credited to the family 

20 and medical leave bank from which the 

21 leave was transferred. 

22 ‘‘(B) START OF PERIOD FOR USE.—The 

23 date described in this subparagraph is the later 

24 of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the date on which the cir2 cumstance described in section 6382(a)(1) 

3 arises; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) the date on which leave is trans5 ferred to the covered DOD employee under 

6 subsection (e)(4).’’. 

7 (b) USE OF FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE.—Section 

8 6382(d) of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

9 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘An employee may 

10 elect’’ the first place it appears; and 

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

12 ‘‘(2)(A) In this paragraph, the term ‘covered DOD 

13 employee’ has the meaning given that term in section 

14 6387. 

15 ‘‘(B) A covered DOD employee entitled to leave under 

16 subsection (a)(1) to whom leave is transferred from a fam17 ily and medical leave bank under section 6387— 

18 ‘‘(i) shall substitute for any leave without pay 

19 under subsection (a)(1) the amount of leave trans20 ferred to the employee from the family and medical 

21 leave bank; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) may substitute for any leave without pay 

23 under subsection (a)(1) any annual or sick leave ac24 crued or accumulated by such employee under sub25 chapter I. 


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1 ‘‘(C) A covered DOD employee to whom leave is 

2 transferred from a family and medical leave bank shall 

3 first use all of the transferred leave before using leave de4 scribed in subparagraph (B)(ii). 

5 ‘‘(D) The Director of the Office of Personnel Man6 agement shall prescribe any regulations necessary to carry 

7 out this paragraph.’’. 

8 (c) OPM AUTHORITY.—If the Director of the Office 

9 of Personnel Management determines expanding the fam10 ily and medical leave bank program Governmentwide 

11 would be appropriate, the Director may prescribe regula12 tions granting Executive agencies (as defined in section 

13 105 of title 5, United States Code) the authority to estab14 lish family and medical leave banks, in the same manner 

15 as provided under the amendments made by subsections 

16 (a) and (b), to the maximum extent practicable. 

17 (d) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

18 The table of sections for chapter 63 of title 5, United 

19 States Code, is amended by striking the item relating to 

20 section 6387 and inserting the following: 

‘‘6387. Department of Defense family and medical leave banks. 

‘‘6388. Regulations.’’. 

Æ 


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