I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2515 
To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to allow leave to 
address domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking and their effects, 
and to include domestic partners under the Act, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 20, 2009 
Ms. WOOLSEY (for herself, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, and Mrs. MALONEY) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu-
cation and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and 
Government Reform and House Administration, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to 
allow leave to address domestic violence, sexual assault, 
or stalking and their effects, and to include domestic 
partners under the Act, 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 ‘‘Domestic Violence 
Leave Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. ENTITLEMENT TO LEAVE FOR DOMESTIC VIO-
LENCE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, OR STALKING. 
(a) AUTHORITY FOR LEAVE.—Section 102(a)(1) (29 
U.S.C. 2612(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(F) In order to care for the family mem-
ber of the employee, if such family member is 
addressing domestic violence, sexual assault, or 
stalking and their effects. 
‘‘(G) Because the employee is addressing 
domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking 
and their effects, the employee is unable to per-
form any of the functions of the position of 
such employee.’’. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 101 (29 U.S.C. 2611) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(20) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—The term ‘domes-
tic violence’ has the meaning given such term in sec-
tion 40002 of the Violence Against Women Act of 
1994 (42 U.S.C. 13925), and includes dating vio-
lence, as such term is defined in such section. 
‘‘(21) SEXUAL ASSAULT.—The term ‘sexual as-
sault’ has the meaning given that term in section 
40002 of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 
(42 U.S.C. 13925). 
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‘‘(22) STALKING.—The term ‘stalking’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 40002 of the Vi-
olence Against Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 
13925). 
‘‘(23) ADDRESSING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, SEX-
UAL ASSAULT, OR STALKING AND THEIR EFFECTS.— 
The term ‘addressing domestic violence, sexual as-
sault, or stalking and their effects’ means— 
‘‘(A) seeking medical attention for or re-
covering from injuries caused by domestic vio-
lence, sexual assault, or stalking; 
‘‘(B) seeking legal assistance or remedies, 
including communicating with the police or an 
attorney, or participating in any legal pro-
ceeding related to domestic violence, sexual as-
sault, or stalking; 
‘‘(C) attending support groups for victims 
of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking; 
‘‘(D) obtaining psychological counseling re-
lated to experiences of domestic violence, sexual 
assault, or stalking; 
‘‘(E) participating in safety planning and 
other actions to increase safety from future do-
mestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, in-
cluding temporary or permanent relocation; and 
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‘‘(F) participating in any other activity ne-
cessitated by domestic violence, sexual assault, 
or stalking which must be undertaken during 
hours of employment. 
‘‘(24) FAMILY
MEMBER.—The term ‘family 
member’, used with respect to a person, means an 
individual who is a spouse, domestic partner, parent, 
son or daughter (including an adult son or daugh-
ter) of that person.’’. 
(c) INTERMITTENT OR REDUCED LEAVE.—Section 
102(b) (29 U.S.C. 2612(b)) is amended by inserting be-
fore the last sentence: ‘‘Subject to subsection (e)(4) and 
103(g), leave under subparagraph (F) or (G) of subsection 
(a)(1) may be taken by an employee intermittently or on 
a reduced leave schedule.’’ 
(d) PAID LEAVE.—Section 102(d)(2)(B) (29 U.S.C. 
2612(d)(2)(B)) is amended by inserting at the end the fol-
lowing: ‘‘An eligible employee may elect to substitute any 
of the accrued paid vacation leave, personal leave, family 
leave, or medical or sick leave of the employee for leave 
provided under subparagraph (F) or (G) of subsection 
(a)(1) for any part of the 12-week period of such leave 
under such subsection, except that nothing in this title 
shall require an employer to provide paid sick leave or paid 
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medical leave in any situation in which such employer 
would not normally provide any such paid leave.’’ 
(e) NOTICE.—Section 102(e)(29 U.S.C. 2612(e)), by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) NOTICE FOR LEAVE DUE TO DOMESTIC VI-
OLENCE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, OR STALKING.—In any 
case in which the necessity for leave under subpara-
graph (F) or (G) of subsection (a)(1) is foreseeable 
based on a scheduled appointment or planned activ-
ity to address domestic violence, sexual assault, or 
stalking and their effects, the employee shall provide 
such notice to the employer as is reasonable and 
practicable.’’. 
(f) CERTIFICATION AND CONFIDENTIALITY.—Section 
103 (29 U.S.C. 2613) is amended— 
(1) in the title, by adding before the period the 
following: ‘‘; confidentiality’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(g) CERTIFICATION RELATED TO DOMESTIC VIO-
LENCE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, OR STALKING.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In determining if an em-
ployee meets the requirements of subparagraph (F) 
or (G) of section 102(a)(1), the employer of an em-
ployee may require the employee to provide written 
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certification. Certification under this paragraph shall 
be sufficient if it includes— 
‘‘(A) documentation of the domestic vio-
lence, sexual assault, or stalking, such as police 
or court records, or documentation of the do-
mestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking from 
a shelter worker, attorney, clergy, or medical or 
other professional from whom the employee or 
family member of the employee has sought as-
sistance in addressing domestic violence, sexual 
assault, or stalking and their effects; 
‘‘(B) other corroborating evidence, such as 
a statement from any other individual with 
knowledge of the circumstances which provide 
the basis for the claim, or physical evidence of 
domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, 
such as photographs, or torn or bloody clothes; 
or 
‘‘(C) at the election of the employee, where 
documentation described in subparagraph (A) 
and corroborating evidence described in sub-
paragraph (B) is not available, a written state-
ment describing the domestic violence, sexual 
assault, or stalking and their effects. 
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‘‘(2) CONFIDENTIALITY.—All evidence of do-
mestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking provided 
to an employer under this subsection, including an 
employee’s statement, any corroborating evidence, 
and the fact that an employee has requested leave 
for the purpose of addressing domestic violence, sex-
ual assault, or stalking and their effects, shall be re-
tained in the strictest confidence by the employer, 
except to the extent consented to by the employee 
where disclosure is necessary to— 
‘‘(A) protect the safety of the employee or 
family member of the employee; or 
‘‘(B) assist in documenting domestic vio-
lence, sexual assault, or stalking for a court or 
law enforcement agency.’’. 
(g) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents in 
section 1(b) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 
(29 U.S.C. prec. 2601) is amended by striking the item 
relating to section 103 and inserting the following: 
‘‘103. Certification; confidentiality’’. 
SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF SAME-SEX SPOUSES AND DOMESTIC 
PARTNERS. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.— 
(1) INCLUSION OF SAME-SEX SPOUSES.—Sec-
tion 101(13) of the Family and Medical Leave Act 
of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611(13)) is amended, by insert-
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ing ‘‘, and, notwithstanding section 7 of title I, 
United States Code, includes a spouse of the same 
sex as the employee as determined under applicable 
State law’’ before the period. 
(2) INCLUSION
CHILDREN
OF
A
DOMESTIC 
PARTNER.—Section 101(12) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 
2611(12)) is amended by inserting ‘‘a child of an in-
dividual’s domestic partner,’’ after ‘‘a legal ward,’’. 
(3) INCLUSION DOMESTIC PARTNERS.—Section 
101 of such Act (as amended by section 2) is further 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(25) DOMESTIC PARTNER.—The term ‘domes-
tic partner’ means— 
‘‘(A) the person recognized as the domestic 
partner of the employee under any domestic 
partner registry or civil union laws of the State 
or political subdivision of a State where the em-
ployee resides; or 
‘‘(B) in the case of an unmarried employee 
who resides in a State where a person cannot 
marry a person of the same sex under the laws 
of the State, a single, unmarried adult person 
of the same sex as the employee who is in a 
committed, intimate relationship with the em-
ployee, is not a domestic partner to any other 
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person, and who is designated to the employer 
by such employee as that employee’s domestic 
partner.’’. 
(b) LEAVE REQUIREMENT.—Section 102 of the Fam-
ily and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612) is 
amended— 
(1) 
in 
subsection 
(a)(1)(C), 
by 
striking 
‘‘spouse,’’ both places it appears and inserting 
‘‘spouse or domestic partner,’’; 
(2) in subsection (a)(1)(E), by striking spouse, 
and inserting ‘‘spouse or domestic partner,’’; 
(3) in subsection (a)(3), by striking ‘‘spouse,’’ 
and inserting ‘‘spouse or domestic partner,’’; 
(4) in subsection (e)(2)(A), by inserting ‘‘do-
mestic partner,’’ after ‘‘spouse,’’; 
(5) in subsection (e)(3), by inserting ‘‘domestic 
partner,’’ after ‘‘spouse,’’; 
(6) in subsection (f)— 
(A) in the subsection heading, by inserting 
‘‘OR DOMESTIC PARTNERS’’ after ‘‘SPOUSES’’; 
(B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘a hus-
band and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘both spouses or 
both domestic partners’’; 
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(C) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘that 
husband and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘spouses or 
both domestic partners’’; and 
(D) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ‘‘the 
husband and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘both spouses 
or both domestic partners’’. 
(c) CERTIFICATION.—Section 103 of the Family and 
Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2613) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘domestic 
partner,’’ after ‘‘spouse,’’ 
(2) in subsection (b)(4)(A), by inserting ‘‘do-
mestic partner,’’ after ‘‘spouse,’’ both places it ap-
pears; and 
(3) in subsection (b)(7), by inserting ‘‘domestic 
partner,’’ after ‘‘spouse,’’. 
(d) EMPLOYMENT AND BENEFITS PROTECTION.— 
Section 104(c)(3) of the Family and Medical Leave Act 
of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2614(c)(3)) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (A)(i), by inserting ‘‘do-
mestic partner,’’ after ‘‘spouse,’’; and 
(2) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by inserting ‘‘do-
mestic partner,’’ after ‘‘spouse,’’. 
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SEC. 4. ENTITLEMENT TO LEAVE FOR FEDERAL EMPLOY-
EES FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, SEXUAL AS-
SAULT, OR STALKING. 
(a) AUTHORITY FOR LEAVE.—Section 6382(a)(1) of 
title 5, United States Code is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(E) In order to care for the family member of 
the employee, if such family member is addressing 
domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking and 
their effects. 
‘‘(F) Because the employee is addressing do-
mestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking and their 
effects, the employee is unable to perform any of the 
functions of the position of such employee.’’. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 6381 of title 5, United 
States Code is amended— 
(1) at the end of paragraph (10), by striking 
‘‘and’’; 
(2) in paragraph (11), by striking the period 
and inserting a semicolon; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(12) the terms ‘domestic violence’, ‘sexual as-
sault’, and ‘stalking’ all have the meaning given such 
terms in section 40002 of the Violence Against 
Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13925), and the 
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or stalking which must be undertaken during 
hours of employment; 
‘‘(14) the term ‘family member’, used with re-
spect to a person, means an individual who is a 
spouse, domestic partner, parent, son or daughter 
(including an adult son or daughter) of that per-
son;’’. 
(c) INTERMITTENT OR REDUCED LEAVE.—Section 
6382(b) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by add-
ing at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) Leave under subparagraph (E) or (F) of 
subsection (a)(1) may be taken by an employee 
intermittently or on a reduced leave schedule. The 
taking of leave intermittently or on a reduced leave 
schedule pursuant to this paragraph shall not result 
in a reduction in the total amount of leave to which 
the employee is entitled under subsection (a) beyond 
the amount of leave actually taken.’’. 
(d) OTHER LEAVE.—Section 6382(d) of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘(C), or (D)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘(C), (D), (E), or (F)’’. 
(e) NOTICE.—Section 6282(e) of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘(3) In any case in which the necessity for 
leave under subparagraph (F) or (G) of subsection 
(a)(1) is foreseeable based on a scheduled appoint-
ment or planned activity to address domestic vio-
lence, sexual assault, or stalking and their effects, 
the employee shall provide such notice to the em-
ploying agency as is reasonable and practicable.’’. 
(f) CERTIFICATION.—Section 6383 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(f) In determining if an employee meets the require-
ments of subparagraph (E) or (F) of section 6382(a)(1), 
the employing agency of an employee may require the em-
ployee to provide written certification. Certification under 
this subsection shall be sufficient if it includes— 
‘‘(1) documentation of the domestic violence, 
sexual assault, or stalking, such as police or court 
records, or documentation of the domestic violence, 
sexual assault, or stalking from a shelter worker, at-
torney, clergy, or medical or other professional from 
whom the employee or family member of the em-
ployee has sought assistance in addressing domestic 
violence, sexual assault, or stalking and their effects; 
‘‘(2) other corroborating evidence, such as a 
statement from any other individual with knowledge 
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of the circumstances which provide the basis for the 
claim, or physical evidence of domestic violence, sex-
ual assault, or stalking, such as photographs or torn 
or bloody clothes; or 
‘‘(3) at the election of the employee, where doc-
umentation described in paragraph (1) and corrobo-
rating evidence described in paragraph (2) is not 
available, a written statement describing the domes-
tic violence, sexual assault, or stalking and their ef-
fects.’’. 
(g) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Section 6383 of title 5, 
United States Code, as amended by subsection (f), is 
amended— 
(1) in the section heading, by adding before the 
period the following: ‘‘; confidentiality’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(g) All evidence of domestic violence, sexual assault, 
or stalking provided to an employing agency under this 
subsection, including an employee’s statement, any cor-
roborating evidence, and the fact that an employee has 
requested leave for the purpose of addressing domestic vio-
lence, sexual assault, or stalking and their effects, shall 
be retained in the strictest confidence by the employing 
agency, except to the extent consented to by the employee 
where disclosure is necessary to— 
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‘‘(1) protect the safety of the employee or fam-
ily member of the employee; or 
‘‘(2) assist in documenting domestic violence, 
sexual assault, or stalking for a court or law enforce-
ment agency.’’. 
(h) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections for 
chapter 63 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 
striking the item relating to section 6383 and inserting 
the following: 
‘‘6383. Certification; confidentiality’’. 
SEC. 5. INCLUSION OF SAME-SEX SPOUSES AND DOMESTIC 
PARTNERS FOR LEAVE FOR FEDERAL EM-
PLOYEES. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 6381 of title 5, United 
States Code, as amended by section 4, is further amend-
ed— 
(1) in paragraph (6), by inserting ‘‘a child of 
an individual’s domestic partner,’’ after ‘‘a legal 
ward,’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(15) the term ‘spouse’ means a husband or 
wife, as the case may be, and, notwithstanding sec-
tion 7 of title I, United States Code, includes a 
spouse of the same sex as the employee as deter-
mined under applicable State law; and 
‘‘(16) the term ‘domestic partner’ means— 
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‘‘(A) the person recognized as the domestic 
partner of the employee under any domestic 
partner registry or civil union laws of the State 
or political subdivision of a State where the em-
ployee resides; or 
‘‘(B) in the case of an unmarried employee 
who resides in a State where a person cannot 
marry a person of the same sex under the laws 
of the State, a single, unmarried adult person 
of the same sex as the employee who is in a 
committed, intimate relationship with the em-
ployee, is not a domestic partner to any other 
person, and who is designated to the employing 
agency by such employee as that employee’s do-
mestic partner.’’. 
(b) LEAVE REQUIREMENT.—Section 6382 of title 5, 
United States Code, is further amended— 
(1) 
in 
subsection 
(a)(1)(C), 
by 
striking 
‘‘spouse,’’ both places it appears and inserting 
‘‘spouse or domestic partner,’’; 
(2) in subsection (a)(3), by striking ‘‘spouse,’’ 
and inserting ‘‘spouse or domestic partner,’’; and 
(3) in subsection (e)(2)(A), by inserting ‘‘do-
mestic partner,’’ after ‘‘spouse,’’. 
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(c) CERTIFICATION.—Section 6383 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘domestic 
partner,’’ after ‘‘spouse,’’; and 
(2) in subsection (b)(4)(A), by inserting ‘‘do-
mestic partner,’’ after ‘‘spouse,’’ both places it ap-
pears. 
Æ 
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