fits, or other compensation, plus interest, 
found by the court to be due to rail carrier 
employees or individuals eligible under this 
section; or 
(ii) to award such other equitable re-
lief as may be appropriate, including em-
ployment, reinstatement, and promotion. 
(F) SOLICITOR OF LABOR.—The Solicitor 
of Labor may appear for and represent the Sec-
retary on any litigation brought under subpara-
graph (C) or (E). 
(g) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.— 
(1) FEDERAL AND STATE ANTIDISCRIMINATION 
LAWS.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to 
modify or affect any Federal or State law prohib-
iting discrimination on the basis of race, religion, 
color, national origin, sex, age, disability, sexual ori-
entation, gender identity, marital status, familial 
status, or any other protected status. 
(2) STATE AND LOCAL LAWS.—Nothing in this 
section shall be construed to supersede (including 
preempting) any provision of any State or local law 
that provides greater paid sick time or leave rights 
(including greater amounts of paid sick time or leave 
or greater coverage of those eligible for paid sick 
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time or leave) than the rights established under this 
section. 
(h) EFFECT
ON EXISTING EMPLOYMENT BENE-
FITS.— 
(1) MORE PROTECTIVE.—Nothing in this sec-
tion shall be construed to diminish the obligation of 
a rail carrier to comply with any contract, collective 
bargaining agreement, or any employment benefit 
program or plan that provides greater paid sick 
leave or other leave rights to rail carrier employees 
or individuals than the rights established under this 
section. 
(2) LESS PROTECTIVE.—The rights established 
for rail carrier employees under this section shall not 
be diminished by any contract, collective bargaining 
agreement, or any employment benefit program or 
plan. 
(i) ENCOURAGEMENT OF MORE GENEROUS LEAVE 
POLICIES.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to 
discourage rail carriers from adopting or retaining leave 
policies more generous than policies that comply with the 
requirements of this section. 
(j) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 
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prescribe such regulations as are necessary to carry out 
this section with respect to rail carrier employees. 
(k) EFFECTIVE DATES.— 
(1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take 
effect 6 months after the date of issuance of regula-
tions under subsection (j). 
(2) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS.— 
In the case of a collective bargaining agreement in 
effect on the effective date prescribed by paragraph 
(1), this section shall take effect on the earlier of— 
(A) the date of the termination of such 
agreement; 
(B) the date of any amendment, made on 
or after such effective date, to such agreement; 
or 
(C) the date that occurs 18 months after 
the date of issuance of regulations under sub-
section (j). 
(l) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi-
nitions apply: 
(1) CHILD.—The term ‘‘child’’ means a biologi-
cal, foster, or adopted child, a stepchild, a child of 
a domestic partner, a legal ward, or a child of a per-
son standing in loco parentis. 
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(2) COMMERCE.—The terms ‘‘commerce’’ and 
‘‘industry or activity affecting commerce’’ mean any 
activity, business, or industry in commerce or in 
which a labor dispute would hinder or obstruct com-
merce or the free flow of commerce, and include 
‘‘commerce’’ and any ‘‘industry affecting com-
merce’’, as defined in paragraphs (1) and (3) of sec-
tion 501 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 
1947 (29 U.S.C. 142 (1) and (3)). 
(3) DOMESTIC PARTNER.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘domestic 
partner’’, with respect to an individual, means 
another individual with whom the individual is 
in a committed relationship. 
(B) 
COMMITTED
RELATIONSHIP
DE-
FINED.—The term ‘‘committed relationship’’ 
means a relationship between 2 individuals, 
each at least 18 years of age, in which each in-
dividual is the other individual’s sole domestic 
partner and both individuals share responsi-
bility for a significant measure of each other’s 
common welfare. The term includes any such 
relationship between 2 individuals, including in-
dividuals of the same sex, that is granted legal 
recognition by a State or political subdivision of 
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a State as a marriage or analogous relationship, 
including a civil union or domestic partnership. 
(4) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘domestic 
violence’’ has the meaning given the term in section 
40002(a) of the Violence Against Women Act of 
1994 (34 U.S.C. 12291(a)), except that the ref-
erence in such section to the term ‘‘jurisdiction re-
ceiving grant funding’’ shall be deemed to mean the 
jurisdiction in which the victim lives or the jurisdic-
tion in which the rail carrier involved is located. 
Such term also includes ‘‘dating violence’’, as that 
term is defined in such section. 
(5) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ means 
an individual who is an employee, as defined in sec-
tion 3(e) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 
(29 U.S.C. 203(e)). 
(6) EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS.—The term ‘‘em-
ployment benefits’’ means all benefits provided or 
made available to rail carrier employees by a rail 
carrier, including group life insurance, health insur-
ance, disability insurance, sick leave, annual leave, 
educational benefits, and pensions, regardless of 
whether such benefits are provided by a practice or 
written policy of a rail carrier or through an ‘‘em-
ployee benefit plan’’, as defined in section 3(3) of 
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