I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5222 
To establish eligibility requirements for covered educational employees under 
the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 9, 2025 
Mr. CASTEN (for himself, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mrs. CHERFILUS- 
MCCORMICK, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. BUDZINSKI, 
Ms. TLAIB, Mr. DELUZIO, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. MULLIN, Ms. SIMON, Ms. 
WILLIAMS of Georgia, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. CHU, Ms. 
TITUS, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. LYNCH, 
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. EVANS of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
FITZPATRICK, Ms. PEREZ, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. 
DESAULNIER, Ms. CRAIG, Mr. KEATING, Mr. MAGAZINER, Mrs. HAYES, 
Ms. DELBENE, Mr. SORENSEN, and Mr. CARSON) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Work-
force, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Government 
Reform, and House Administration, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To establish eligibility requirements for covered educational 
employees under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 
1993, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘ESP, Paraprofessional, 
and Education Support Staff Family Leave Act’’. 
SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY FOR EDUCATION SUPPORT PROFES-
SIONALS AND SCHOOL SUPPORT STAFF. 
Section 101(2) of the Family and Medical Leave Act 
of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611(2)) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(F) 
PARAPROFESSIONALS
AND
EDU-
CATION SUPPORT STAFF.— 
‘‘(i) DETERMINATION.—For purposes 
of determining whether a covered edu-
cational employee meets the hours of serv-
ice requirement specified in subparagraph 
(A)(ii), the covered educational employee 
will be considered to meet the requirement 
if the employee has worked a number of 
hours equal to not less than 60 percent of 
the applicable total monthly hours expected 
for the employee’s job description and du-
ties, as assigned for the previous school 
year. 
‘‘(ii) FILE.—Each employer of a cov-
ered educational employee shall maintain 
on file with the Secretary (in accordance 
with such regulations as the Secretary may 
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prescribe) information specifying the total 
monthly hours expected for the employee’s 
job description and duties for each school 
year. 
‘‘(iii) DEFINITIONS.—In this subpara-
graph: 
‘‘(I) COVERED EDUCATIONAL EM-
PLOYEE.—The term ‘covered edu-
cational employee’ means a ‘para-
professional’ or an ‘education support 
staff member’ employed by an edu-
cational agency or institution. 
‘‘(II) PARAPROFESSIONAL.—The 
term ‘paraprofessional’ has the mean-
ing 
given 
the 
term 
in 
section 
8101(37) of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 7801(37)). 
‘‘(III) 
EDUCATION
SUPPORT 
STAFF.—The term ‘education support 
staff member’ (also known as a ‘clas-
sified school employee’, ‘education 
support 
professional’, 
or 
‘ESP’) 
means an employee of an educational 
agency or institution who provides 
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clerical and administrative services, 
transportation services, food and nu-
trition services, custodial and mainte-
nance services, health and student 
services, technical services, or services 
related to skilled trades. 
‘‘(IV) EDUCATIONAL AGENCY OR 
INSTITUTION.—The term ‘educational 
agency or institution’ has the meaning 
given the term in section 444(a)(3) of 
the General Education Provisions Act 
(20 U.S.C. 1232g(a)(3)).’’. 
SEC. 3. ENTITLEMENT TO LEAVE. 
Section 102(a) of the Family and Medical Leave Act 
of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612(a)) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(6) CALCULATION
OF
LEAVE
FOR
COVERED 
EDUCATIONAL
EMPLOYEES.—The Secretary shall 
provide methods for calculating the leave described 
in paragraph (1) with respect to covered educational 
employees, in accordance with section 108, as appli-
cable.’’. 
Æ 
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