II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1174 

To provide that 12 weeks of leave made available to a Federal employee 

shall be paid leave, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 11, 2019 

Mr. SCHATZ (for himself, Mr. BROWN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Mr. MERKLEY) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide that 12 weeks of 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 Employee Paid 

5 Leave Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PAID LEAVE FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES COVERED 

7 BY TITLE 5. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6382 of title 5, United 

9 States Code, is amended by striking subsections (c) and 

10 (d) and inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(c)(1) Subject to paragraph (2), leave taken by an 

2 employee under subsection (a) shall be paid leave. 

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

4 for purposes of paragraph (1) is— 

5 ‘‘(A) 12 administrative workweeks of paid leave, 

6 in connection with the birth, placement, or other 

7 event involved for which leave may be taken under 

8 subsection (a), in the 12-month period referred to in 

9 subsection (a); or 

10 ‘‘(B) if regulations are promulgated under sub11 section (d), the number of administrative workweeks 

12 specified in the regulations. 

13 ‘‘(3)(A) An employee may elect to substitute for any 

14 leave under subsection (a)(3) any other paid leave which 

15 is available to such employee for the purpose described in 

16 that subsection. 

17 ‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not be construed to re18 quire that an employee first use all or any portion of the 

19 other paid leave described in such subparagraph before 

20 being allowed to use the paid leave described in paragraph 

21 (1). 

22 ‘‘(4) Paid leave described in paragraph (1)— 

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

24 fund available for salaries or expenses for positions 

25 within the employing agency; 


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1 ‘‘(B) shall not be considered to be annual or va2 cation leave for purposes of section 5551 or 5552 or 

3 for any other purpose; and 

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

5 of the 12-month period (referred to in subsection 

6 (a)) to which it relates, shall not accumulate for any 

7 subsequent use. 

8 ‘‘(5) The Director of the Office of Personnel Manage9 ment shall prescribe any regulations necessary to carry out 

10 this subsection, including regulations specifying the man11 ner in which an employee may designate any day or other 

12 period as to which such employee wishes to use paid leave 

13 described in paragraph (1) under subsection (a). 

14 ‘‘(d) The Director of the Office of Personnel Manage15 ment may promulgate regulations to increase the amount 

16 of paid leave available to an employee under subsection 

17 (a) to a total of not more than 16 administrative work18 weeks, based on the consideration of— 

19 ‘‘(1) the benefits provided to the Federal Gov20 ernment of increasing such leave, including enhanced 

21 recruitment and retention of employees; 

22 ‘‘(2) the cost to the Federal Government of in23 creasing the amount of such leave; 


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1 ‘‘(3) trends in the private sector and in State 

2 and local governments with respect to offering an in3 creased amount of paid leave; 

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

5 employer; 

6 ‘‘(5) the impact of increased paid leave under 

7 subsection (a) on lower-income and economically dis8 advantaged employees and their children; and 

9 ‘‘(6) such other factors as the Director con10 siders necessary.’’. 

11 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by this 

12 section shall not apply with respect to any event that— 

13 (1) is a birth, placement, or other event for 

14 which leave may be taken under section 6382(a) of 

15 title 5, United States Code; and 

16 (2) occurs before the end of the 6-month period 

17 beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

18 SEC. 3. PAID LEAVE FOR CONGRESSIONAL EMPLOYEES. 

19 (a) AMENDMENTS TO CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNT20 ABILITY ACT.—Section 202 of the Congressional Account21 ability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1312) is amended— 

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

23 the following: ‘‘In applying section 102(a) of such 

24 Act to covered employees, subsection (d) shall 

25 apply.’’; 


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

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

3 (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULE FOR PAID LEAVE FOR CONGRES6 SIONAL EMPLOYEES.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

8 leave taken by a covered employee under section 

9 102(a) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 

10 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612(a)) shall be paid leave. 

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

12 that is available to a covered employee for purposes 

13 of paragraph (1) is— 

14 ‘‘(A) the number of weeks of paid leave, in 

15 connection with the birth, placement, or other 

16 event involved for which leave may be taken 

17 under section 6382(a) of title 5, United States 

18 Code, that corresponds to the number of admin19 istrative workweeks of paid leave available to 

20 Federal employees under section 6382(a) of 

21 title 5, United States Code (taking into account 

22 any increase under section 6382(d) of that 

23 title); and 

24 ‘‘(B) any additional paid vacation leave, 

25 personal leave, family leave, or sick or medical 


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1 leave provided by the employing office to such 

2 employee. 

3 ‘‘(3) SUBSTITUTION.— 

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

5 may elect to substitute for any leave under 

6 paragraph (3) of such section 102(a) any other 

7 paid leave which is available to such covered 

8 employee for the purpose described in that 

9 paragraph. Section 102(d)(2) of the Family and 

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

11 2612(d)(2)) shall not apply to covered employ12 ees. 

13 ‘‘(B) CONSTRUCTION.—Subparagraph (A) 

14 shall not be construed to require that a covered 

15 employee first use all or any portion of the 

16 other paid leave described in such subparagraph 

17 before being allowed to use the paid leave de18 scribed in paragraph (2)(A). 

19 ‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL RULES.—Paid leave described 

20 in paragraph (1)— 

21 ‘‘(A) shall be payable from any appropria22 tion or fund available for salaries or expenses 

23 for positions within the employing office; and 

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

25 before the end of the 12-month period (referred 


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1 to in section 102(a)(1) of the Family and Med2 ical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612(a)(1))) 

3 to which it relates, shall not accumulate for any 

4 subsequent use.’’. 

5 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by this 

6 section shall not apply with respect to any event that— 

7 (1) is a birth, placement, or other event for 

8 which leave may be taken under section 102(a) of 

9 the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 

10 U.S.C. 2612(a)); and 

11 (2) occurs before the end of the 6-month period 

12 beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

13 SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO FAMILY AND MED14 ICAL LEAVE ACT FOR GAO EMPLOYEES. 

15 (a) AMENDMENT TO FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE

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

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

18 adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR GAO EMPLOYEES.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara21 graph (B), any leave taken by an employee of 

22 the Government Accountability Office under 

23 subsection (a) shall be paid leave. 


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

2 leave that is available to such an employee for 

3 purposes of subparagraph (A) is— 

4 ‘‘(i) the number of weeks of paid 

5 leave, in connection with the birth, place6 ment, or other event involved for which 

7 leave may be taken under section 6382(a) 

8 of title 5, United States Code, that cor9 responds to the number of administrative 

10 workweeks of paid leave available to Fed11 eral employees under section 6382(a) of 

12 title 5, United States Code (taking into ac13 count any increase under section 6382(d) 

14 of that title); and 

15 ‘‘(ii) any additional paid vacation 

16 leave, personal leave, family leave, or sick 

17 or medical leave provided by such employer 

18 to such employee. 

19 ‘‘(C) SUBSTITUTION.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An employee of 

21 the Government Accountability Office may 

22 elect to substitute for any leave under sub23 section (a)(3) any other paid leave which is 

24 available to such employee for the purpose 

25 described in that subsection. Paragraph 


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1 (2) shall not apply to employees of the 

2 Government Accountability Office. 

3 ‘‘(ii) CONSTRUCTION.—Clause (i) 

4 shall not be construed to require that an 

5 employee first use all or any portion of the 

6 other paid leave described in such clause 

7 before being allowed to use the paid leave 

8 described in subparagraph (B)(i). 

9 ‘‘(D) ADDITIONAL RULES.—Paid leave de10 scribed in subparagraph (A)— 

11 ‘‘(i) shall be payable from any appro12 priation or fund available for salaries or 

13 expenses for positions with the Government 

14 Accountability Office; and 

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

16 such employer before the end of the 12- 

17 month period (referred to in subsection 

18 (a)(1)) to which it relates, shall not accu19 mulate for any subsequent use.’’. 

20 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by this 

21 section shall not apply with respect to any event that— 

22 (1) is a birth, placement, or other event for 

23 which leave may be taken under section 102(a) of 

24 the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 

25 U.S.C. 2612(a)); and 


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1 (2) occurs before the end of the 6-month period 

2 beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

3 SEC. 5. CLARIFICATION FOR MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL 

4 GUARD AND RESERVES. 

5 (a) EXECUTIVE BRANCH EMPLOYEES.—For pur6 poses of determining the eligibility of an employee de7 scribed in section 6381(1)(A) of title 5, United States 

8 Code, who is a member of the National Guard or Reserves 

9 to take leave under section 6382(a) of such title, any serv10 ice by such employee on covered active duty (as defined 

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

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

13 title. 

14 (b) CONGRESSIONAL EMPLOYEES.—For purposes of 

15 determining the eligibility of a covered employee (meaning 

16 an employee defined as or considered to be a covered em17 ployee under section 101 of the Congressional Account18 ability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301)) who is a member 

19 of the National Guard or Reserves to take leave under sec20 tion 102(a)(1) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 

21 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612(a)(1)) (pursuant to section 

22 202(a)(1) of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 

23 (2 U.S.C. 1312(a)(1))), any service by such covered em24 ployee on covered active duty (as defined in section 

25 101(14) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 


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1 (29 U.S.C. 2611(14))) shall be counted as time during 

2 which such employee has been employed in an employing 

3 office for purposes of section 202(a)(2)(B) of the Congres4 sional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 

5 1312(a)(2)(B)). 

6 (c) GAO EMPLOYEES.—For purposes of determining 

7 the eligibility of an employee of the Government Account8 ability Office who is a member of the National Guard or 

9 Reserves to take leave under section 102(a)(1) of the 

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

11 2612(a)(1)), any service by such employee on covered ac12 tive duty (as defined in section 101(14) of such Act (29 

13 U.S.C. 2611(14))) shall be counted as time during which 

14 such employee has been employed for purposes of section 

15 101(2)(A) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2611(2)(A)). 

16 SEC. 6. CONFORMING AMENDMENT FOR CERTAIN TSA EM17 PLOYEES. 

18 Section 111(d)(2) of the Aviation and Transportation 

19 Security Act (49 U.S.C. 44935 note) is amended to read 

20 as follows: 

21 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) REEMPLOYMENT.—In carrying out 

23 the functions authorized under paragraph (1), 

24 the Under Secretary shall be subject to the proVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 Apr 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1174.IS S1174

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1 visions set forth in chapter 43 of title 38, 

2 United States Code. 

3 ‘‘(B) LEAVE.—The provisions of section 

4 6382(a) of title 5, United States Code, and sub5 sections (c) and (d) of such section shall apply 

6 to any individual appointed under paragraph 

7 (1).’’. 

Æ 


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