I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3257 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to grant family of members of 

the uniformed services temporary annual leave during the deployment 

of such members. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 17, 2009 

Mr. SMITH of Washington introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to grant family 

of members of the uniformed services temporary annual 

leave during the deployment of such members. 

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 Leave 

5 Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ANNUAL LEAVE FOR FAMILY OF DEPLOYED MEM2 BERS OF THE UNIFORMED SERVICES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part III of title 38, United States 

4 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 

5 chapter: 

6 ‘‘CHAPTER 44—ANNUAL LEAVE FOR FAM7 ILY OF DEPLOYED MEMBERS OF THE 

8 UNIFORMED SERVICES 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘4401. Definitions. 

‘‘4402. Leave requirement. 

‘‘4403. Certification. 

‘‘4404. Employment and benefits protection. 

‘‘4405. Prohibited acts. 

‘‘4406. Enforcement. 

‘‘4407. Miscellaneous provisions. 

9 ‘‘§ 4401. Definitions 

10 ‘‘In this chapter: 

11 ‘‘(1) The terms ‘benefit’, ‘rights and benefits’, 

12 ‘employee’, ‘employer’, and ‘uniformed services’ have 

13 the meaning given such terms in section 4303 of 

14 this title. 

15 ‘‘(2) The term ‘contingency operation’ has the 

16 same meaning given such term in section 101(a)(13) 

17 of title 10. 

18 ‘‘(3) The term ‘eligible employee’ means an in19 dividual who is— 

20 ‘‘(A) a family member of a member of a 

21 uniformed service; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) an employee of the employer with re2 spect to whom leave is requested under section 

3 4402 of this title. 

4 ‘‘(4) The term ‘family member’ means an indi5 vidual who is, with respect to another individual, one 

6 of the following: 

7 ‘‘(A) The spouse of the other individual. 

8 ‘‘(B) A son or daughter of the other indi9 vidual. 

10 ‘‘(C) A parent of the other individual. 

11 ‘‘(5) The term ‘reduced leave schedule’ means a 

12 leave schedule that reduces the usual number of 

13 hours per workweek, or hours per workday, of an 

14 employee. 

15 ‘‘(6) The terms ‘spouse’, ‘son or daughter’, and 

16 ‘parent’ have the meaning given such terms in sec17 tion 101 of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 

18 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611). 

19 ‘‘§ 4402. Leave requirement 

20 ‘‘(a) ENTITLEMENT TO LEAVE.—In any 12-month 

21 period, an eligible employee shall be entitled to two work22 weeks of leave for each family member of the eligible em23 ployee who, during such 12-month period— 

24 ‘‘(1) is in the uniformed services; and 


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1 ‘‘(2)(A) receives notification of an impending 

2 call or order to active duty in support of a contin3 gency operation; or 

4 ‘‘(B) is deployed in connection with a contin5 gency operation. 

6 ‘‘(b) LEAVE TAKEN INTERMITTENTLY OR ON RE7 DUCED LEAVE SCHEDULE.—(1) Leave under subsection 

8 (a) may be taken by an eligible employee intermittently 

9 or on a reduced leave schedule as the eligible employee 

10 considers appropriate. 

11 ‘‘(2) The taking of leave intermittently or on a re12 duced leave schedule pursuant to this subsection shall not 

13 result in a reduction in the total amount of leave to which 

14 the eligible employee is entitled under subsection (a) be15 yond the amount of leave actually taken. 

16 ‘‘(c) PAID LEAVE PERMITTED.—Leave granted 

17 under subsection (a) may consist of paid leave or unpaid 

18 leave as the employer of the eligible employee considers 

19 appropriate. 

20 ‘‘(d) RELATIONSHIP TO PAID LEAVE.—(1) If an em21 ployer provides paid leave to an eligible employee for fewer 

22 than the total number of workweeks of leave that the eligi23 ble employee is entitled to under subsection (a), the addi24 tional amount of leave necessary to attain the total numVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:19 Jul 18, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3257.IH H3257

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1 ber of workweeks of leave required under subsection (a) 

2 may be provided without compensation. 

3 ‘‘(2) An eligible employee may elect, and an employer 

4 may not require the eligible employee, to substitute any 

5 of the accrued paid vacation leave, personal leave, or fam6 ily leave of the eligible employee for leave provided under 

7 subsection (a) for any part of the total period of such leave 

8 the eligible employee is entitled to under such subsection. 

9 ‘‘(e) NOTICE FOR LEAVE.—In any case in which an 

10 eligible employee chooses to use leave under subsection 

11 (a), the eligible employee shall provide such notice to the 

12 employer as is reasonable and practicable. 

13 ‘‘§ 4403. Certification 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An employer may require that 

15 a request for leave under section 4402(a) of this title be 

16 supported by a certification of entitlement to such leave. 

17 ‘‘(b) TIMELINESS OF CERTIFICATION.—An eligible 

18 employee shall provide, in a timely manner, a copy of the 

19 certification required by subsection (a) to the employer. 

20 ‘‘(c) SUFFICIENT CERTIFICATION.—A copy of the no21 tification, call, or order described in section 4402(a)(2) of 

22 this title shall be considered sufficient certification of enti23 tlement to leave for purposes of providing certification 

24 under this section. The Secretary may prescribe such addi25 tional forms and manners of certification as the Secretary 


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1 considers appropriate for purposes of providing certifi2 cation under this section. 

3 ‘‘§ 4404. Employment and benefits protection 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible employee who takes 

5 leave under section 4402 of this title for the intended pur6 pose of the leave shall be entitled, on return from such 

7 leave— 

8 ‘‘(1) to be restored by the employer to the posi9 tion of employment held by the eligible employee 

10 when the leave commenced; or 

11 ‘‘(2) to be restored to an equivalent position 

12 with equivalent rights and benefits of employment. 

13 ‘‘(b) LOSS OF BENEFITS.—The taking of leave under 

14 section 4402 of this title shall not result in the loss of 

15 any employment benefit accrued prior to the date on which 

16 the leave commenced. 

17 ‘‘(c) LIMITATIONS.—Nothing in this section shall be 

18 construed to entitle any restored employee to— 

19 ‘‘(1) the accrual of any seniority or employment 

20 benefits during any period of leave; or 

21 ‘‘(2) any right, benefit, or position of employ22 ment other than any right, benefit, or position to 

23 which the employee would have been entitled had the 

24 employee not taken the leave. 


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1 ‘‘§ 4405. Prohibited acts 

2 ‘‘(a) EXERCISE OF RIGHTS.—It shall be unlawful for 

3 any employer to interfere with, restrain, or deny the exer4 cise of or the attempt to exercise, any right provided under 

5 this chapter. 

6 ‘‘(b) DISCRIMINATION.—It shall be unlawful for any 

7 employer to discharge or in any other manner discriminate 

8 against any individual for opposing any practice made un9 lawful by this chapter. 

10 ‘‘§ 4406. Enforcement 

11 ‘‘The provisions of subchapter III of chapter 43 of 

12 this title shall apply with respect to the provisions of this 

13 chapter as if such provisions were incorporated into and 

14 made part of this chapter. 

15 ‘‘§ 4407. Miscellaneous provisions 

16 ‘‘The provisions of subchapter IV of chapter 43 of 

17 this title shall apply with respect to the provisions of this 

18 chapter as if such provisions were incorporated into and 

19 made part of this chapter.’’. 

20 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of chapters 

21 at the beginning of title 38, United States Code, and at 

22 the beginning of part III of such title, are each amended 

23 by inserting after the item relating to chapter 43 the fol24 lowing new item: 


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‘‘44. Annual Leave for Family of Deployed Members of 

the Uniformed Services ....................................... 4401.’’. 

Æ 


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