I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6275 
To provide that the 12 weeks of parental leave made available to a Federal 
employee shall be paid leave, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 28, 2018 
Mrs. COMSTOCK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the 
Committee on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently de-
termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To provide that the 12 weeks of parental leave made avail-
able to a Federal employee shall be paid leave, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Employees 
Paid Parental Leave Act of 2018’’. 
SEC. 2. PAID PARENTAL LEAVE UNDER TITLE 5. 
(a) AMENDMENT TO TITLE 5.—Subsection (d) of sec-
tion 6382 of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 
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(1) by redesignating such subsection as sub-
section (d)(1); 
(2) by striking ‘‘subparagraph (A), (B), (C),’’ 
and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (C),’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) An employee may elect to substitute for 
any leave without pay under subparagraph (A) or 
(B) of subsection (a)(1) any paid leave which is 
available to such employee for that purpose. 
‘‘(3) The paid leave that is available to an em-
ployee for purposes of paragraph (2) is— 
‘‘(A) subject to paragraph (6), 12 adminis-
trative workweeks of paid parental leave under 
this subparagraph in connection with the birth 
or placement involved; and 
‘‘(B) any annual or sick leave accrued or 
accumulated by such employee under sub-
chapter I. 
‘‘(4) Nothing in this subsection shall be consid-
ered to require that an employee first use all or any 
portion of the leave described in paragraph (3)(B) 
before being allowed to use the paid parental leave 
described in paragraph (3)(A). 
‘‘(5) Paid parental leave under paragraph 
(3)(A)— 
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‘‘(A) shall be payable from any appropria-
tion or fund available for salaries or expenses 
for positions within the employing agency; 
‘‘(B) shall not be considered to be annual 
or vacation leave for purposes of section 5551 
or 5552 or for any other purpose; and 
‘‘(C) if not used by the employee before the 
end of the 12-month period (as referred to in 
subsection (a)(1)) to which it relates, shall not 
accumulate for any subsequent use. 
‘‘(6) The Director of the Office of Personnel 
Management— 
‘‘(A) may promulgate regulations to in-
crease the amount of paid parental leave avail-
able to an employee under paragraph (3)(A), to 
a total of not more than 16 administrative 
workweeks, based on the consideration of— 
‘‘(i) the benefits provided to the Fed-
eral Government of offering increased paid 
parental leave, including enhanced recruit-
ment and retention of employees; 
‘‘(ii) the cost to the Federal Govern-
ment of increasing the amount of paid pa-
rental leave that is available to employees; 
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‘‘(iii) trends in the private sector and 
in State and local governments with re-
spect to offering paid parental leave; 
‘‘(iv) the Federal Government’s role 
as a model employer; 
‘‘(v) the impact of increased paid pa-
rental leave on lower-income and economi-
cally disadvantaged employees and their 
children; and 
‘‘(vi) such other factors as the Direc-
tor considers necessary; and 
‘‘(B) shall prescribe any regulations nec-
essary to carry out this subsection, including, 
subject to paragraph (4), the manner in which 
an employee may designate any day or other 
period as to which such employee wishes to use 
paid parental leave described in paragraph 
(3)(A).’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall not be effective with respect to any birth 
or placement occurring before the end of the 6-month pe-
riod beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 
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SEC. 3. PAID PARENTAL LEAVE FOR CONGRESSIONAL EM-
PLOYEES. 
(a) AMENDMENTS
TO CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNT-
ABILITY ACT.—Section 202 of the Congressional Account-
ability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1312) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(1), by adding at the end 
the following: ‘‘In applying section 102(a)(1) (A) 
and (B) of such Act to covered employees, sub-
section (d) shall apply.’’; 
(2) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as 
subsections (e) and (f), respectively; and 
(3) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULE FOR PAID PARENTAL LEAVE 
FOR CONGRESSIONAL EMPLOYEES.— 
‘‘(1) SUBSTITUTION OF PAID LEAVE.—A cov-
ered employee taking leave without pay under sub-
paragraph (A) or (B) of section 102(a)(1) of the 
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 
2612(a)(1)) may elect to substitute for any such 
leave any paid leave which is available to such em-
ployee for that purpose. 
‘‘(2) AMOUNT OF PAID LEAVE.—The paid leave 
that is available to a covered employee for purposes 
of paragraph (1) is— 
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‘‘(A) the number of weeks of paid parental 
leave in connection with the birth or placement 
involved that correspond to the number of ad-
ministrative workweeks of paid parental leave 
available to Federal employees under section 
6382(d)(3)(A) of title 5, United States Code; 
and 
‘‘(B) any additional paid vacation or sick 
leave provided by the employing office to such 
employee. 
‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this subsection 
shall be considered to require that an employee first 
use all or any portion of the leave described in para-
graph (2)(B) before being allowed to use the paid 
parental leave described in paragraph (2)(A). 
‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL RULES.—Paid parental leave 
under paragraph (2)(A)— 
‘‘(A) shall be payable from any appropria-
tion or fund available for salaries or expenses 
for positions within the employing office; and 
‘‘(B) if not used by the covered employee 
before the end of the 12-month period (as re-
ferred to in section 102(a)(1) of the Family and 
Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 
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2612(a)(1))) to which it relates, shall not accu-
mulate for any subsequent use.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall not be effective with respect to any birth 
or placement occurring before the end of the 6-month pe-
riod beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO FAMILY AND MED-
ICAL LEAVE ACT FOR GAO EMPLOYEES. 
(a) TREATMENT OF GAO EMPLOYEES.— 
(1) AMENDMENT
TO
FAMILY
AND
MEDICAL 
LEAVE ACT OF 1993.—Section 102(d) of the Family 
and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612(d)) 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR GAO.— 
‘‘(A) SUBSTITUTION OF PAID LEAVE.—An 
employee of an employer described in section 
101(4)(A)(iv) taking leave under subparagraph 
(A) or (B) of subsection (a)(1) may elect to 
substitute for any such leave any paid leave 
which is available to such employee for that 
purpose. 
‘‘(B) AMOUNT OF PAID LEAVE.—The paid 
leave that is available to an employee of an em-
ployer described in section 101(4)(A)(iv) for 
purposes of subparagraph (A) is— 
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‘‘(i) the number of weeks of paid pa-
rental leave in connection with the birth or 
placement involved that correspond to the 
number of administrative workweeks of 
paid parental leave available to Federal 
employees under section 6382(d)(3)(A) of 
title 5, United States Code; and 
‘‘(ii) any additional paid vacation or 
sick leave provided by such employer. 
‘‘(C) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this para-
graph shall be considered to require that an 
employee first use all or any portion of the 
leave described in subparagraph (B)(ii) before 
being allowed to use the paid parental leave de-
scribed in clause (i) of such subparagraph. 
‘‘(D) ADDITIONAL RULES.—Paid parental 
leave under subparagraph (B)(i)— 
‘‘(i) shall be payable from any appro-
priation or fund available for salaries or 
expenses for positions with the employer 
described in section 101(4)(A)(iv); and 
‘‘(ii) if not used by the employee of 
such employer before the end of the 12- 
month period (as referred to in subsection 
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(a)(1)) to which it relates, shall not accu-
mulate for any subsequent use.’’. 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 
by this subsection shall not be effective with respect 
to any birth or placement occurring before the end 
of the 6-month period beginning on the date of the 
enactment of this Act. 
(b) ADDITIONAL CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELAT-
ING TO LIBRARY OF CONGRESS EMPLOYEES.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 101(4)(A)(iv) of 
such Act (29 U.S.C. 2611(4)(A)(iv)) is amended by 
striking ‘‘and the Library of Congress’’. 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 
by this subsection shall take effect as if included in 
the enactment of the Legislative Branch Appropria-
tions Act, 2018 (Public Law 115–141). 
SEC. 5. CLARIFICATION FOR MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL 
GUARD AND RESERVES. 
(a) EXECUTIVE BRANCH EMPLOYEES.—For pur-
poses of determining the eligibility of an employee who is 
a member of the National Guard or Reserves to take leave 
under paragraph (1) (A) or (B) of section 6382(a) of title 
5, United States Code, or to substitute such leave pursu-
ant to paragraph (2) of such section (as added by section 
2), any service by such employee on active duty (as defined 
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in section 6381(7) of such title) shall be counted as service 
as an employee for purposes of section 6381(1)(B) of such 
title. 
(b) CONGRESSIONAL EMPLOYEES.—For purposes of 
determining the eligibility of a covered employee (as such 
term is defined in section 101(3) of the Congressional Ac-
countability Act) who is a member of the National Guard 
or Reserves to take leave under subparagraph (A) or (B) 
of section 102(a)(1) of the Family and Medical Leave Act 
of 1993 (pursuant to section 202(a)(1) of the Congres-
sional Accountability Act), or to substitute such leave pur-
suant to subsection (d) of section 202 of such Act (as 
added by section 3), any service by such employee on ac-
tive duty (as defined in section 101(14) of the Family and 
Medical Leave Act of 1993) shall be counted as time dur-
ing which such employee has been employed in an employ-
ing office for purposes of section 202(a)(2)(B) of the Con-
gressional Accountability Act. 
(c) GAO EMPLOYEES.—For purposes of determining 
the eligibility of an employee of the Government Account-
ability Office who is a member of the National Guard or 
Reserves to take leave under subparagraph (A) or (B) of 
section 102(a)(1) of the Family and Medical Leave Act 
of 1993, or to substitute such leave pursuant to paragraph 
(3) of section 102(d) of such Act (as added by section 
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4), any service by such employee on active duty (as defined 
in section 101(14) of such Act) shall be counted as time 
during which such employee has been employed for pur-
poses of section 101(2)(A) of such Act. 
SEC. 6. CONFORMING AMENDMENT FOR CERTAIN TSA EM-
PLOYEES. 
Section 111(d)(2) of the Aviation and Transportation 
Security Act (49 U.S.C. 44935 note) is amended to read 
as follows: 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.— 
‘‘(A) REEMPLOYMENT.—In carrying out 
the functions authorized under paragraph (1), 
the Under Secretary shall be subject to the pro-
visions set forth in chapter 43 of title 38, 
United States Code. 
‘‘(B) LEAVE.—The provisions of section 
6382(a)(1)(A) and (B) of title 5, United States 
Code, and subsection (d)(2) through (6) of such 
section, shall apply to any individual appointed 
under paragraph (1).’’. 
Æ 
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