I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5578 
To extend protections to part-time workers in the areas of family and medical 
leave and to ensure equitable treatment in the workplace. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 19, 2023 
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY (for herself, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. BOWMAN, 
Ms. PORTER, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. NORTON, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. LEE of 
California, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, and Ms. CHU) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on 
House Administration, Oversight and Accountability, and the Judiciary, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
committee concerned 
A BILL 
To extend protections to part-time workers in the areas 
of family and medical leave and to ensure equitable treat-
ment in the workplace. 
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 ‘‘Part-Time Worker Bill 
of Rights Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
The table of contents is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title. 
Sec. 2. Table of contents. 
TITLE I—EXPANDING ACCESS TO BENEFITS FOR PART-TIME 
WORKERS 
Sec. 101. Elimination of hours of service requirement for FMLA leave. 
TITLE II—ENSURING FAIR TREATMENT FOR PART-TIME AND 
TEMPORARY WORKERS 
Sec. 201. Definitions. 
Sec. 202. Elimination of discrimination on the basis of hours worked. 
Sec. 203. Offer of work to existing employees. 
Sec. 204. Prohibited acts. 
Sec. 205. Remedies and enforcement. 
Sec. 206. Regulations. 
TITLE I—EXPANDING ACCESS TO 
BENEFITS 
FOR 
PART-TIME 
WORKERS 
SEC. 101. ELIMINATION OF HOURS OF SERVICE REQUIRE-
MENT FOR FMLA LEAVE. 
(a) AMENDMENT.—Section 101(2)(A) of the Family 
and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611(2)(A)) 
is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible em-
ployee’ means an employee who has been em-
ployed for at least 90 days by the employer with 
respect to whom leave is requested under sec-
tion 102.’’. 
(b) AMENDMENTS TO RELATED STATUTES.— 
(1) CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 
1995.—Section 202(a)(2)(B) of the Congressional 
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Accountability 
Act 
of 
1995 
(2 
U.S.C. 
1312(a)(2)(B)) is amended by striking ‘‘12 months 
and for at least 1,250 hours of employment during 
the previous 12 months’’ and inserting ‘‘at least 90 
days’’. 
(2) TITLE 3, UNITED STATES CODE.—Section 
412(a)(2)(B) of title 3, United States Code, is 
amended by striking ‘‘12 months and for at least 
1,250 hours of employment during the previous 12 
months’’ and inserting ‘‘at least 90 days’’. 
(3) TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE.—Chapter 
63 of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 
(A) in section 6381(1)(B), by striking ‘‘at 
least 12 months of service’’ and inserting ‘‘at 
least 90 days of service’’; and 
(B) in section 6382(d)(2)(E), by striking 
‘‘at least 12 months of service’’ and inserting 
‘‘at least 90 days of service’’. 
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) Section 101(2) of the Family and Medical 
Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611(2)) is amend-
ed— 
(A) by striking subparagraphs (C) and 
(D); and 
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(B) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as 
subparagraph (C). 
(2) Section 102(a) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 
2612(a)) is amended by striking paragraph (5). 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
subsections (a), (b), and (c) shall take effect beginning 
on the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act. 
TITLE 
II—ENSURING 
FAIR 
TREATMENT FOR PART-TIME 
AND TEMPORARY WORKERS 
SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS. 
In this title: 
(1) EMPLOY.—The term ‘‘employ’’ has the 
meaning given the term in section 3(g) of the Fair 
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(g)). 
(2) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ means 
an individual who is— 
(A) an employee, as defined in section 3(e) 
of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 
U.S.C. 203(e)), who is not covered under any of 
subparagraphs (B) through (F), except that a 
reference in such section to an employer shall 
be considered to be a reference to a person in 
commerce described in paragraph (3)(A); 
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(B) a State employee described in section 
304(a) of the Government Employee Rights Act 
of 1991 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16c(a)); 
(C) a covered employee, as defined in sec-
tion 101 of the Congressional Accountability 
Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301), except that such 
term shall not include an applicant for employ-
ment; 
(D) a covered employee, as defined in sec-
tion 411(c) of title 3, United States Code; 
(E) a Federal officer or employee covered 
under subchapter V of chapter 63 of title 5, 
United States Code; or 
(F) an employee of the Government Ac-
countability Office. 
(3) EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘employer’’— 
(A)(i) means any person in commerce 
that— 
(I) employs more than 15 employees 
described in paragraph (2)(A), which shall 
be calculated by including all employees de-
scribed in paragraph (2)(A) performing 
work for compensation on a full-time, part- 
time, or temporary basis, except that if the 
number of such employees who perform 
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work for such a person for compensation 
fluctuates, the number may be determined 
for a calendar year based upon the average 
number of such employees who performed 
work for the person for compensation dur-
ing the preceding calendar year; or 
(II) is part of an integrated enter-
prise, chain of businesses, group of fran-
chises associated with a franchisor, or net-
work of franchises that, in the aggregate, 
employs more than 15 employees, cal-
culated in accordance with subclause (I); 
(ii) includes— 
(I) any person who acts, directly or 
indirectly, in the interest of such an em-
ployer to any of the employees (described 
in clause (i)) of such employer; and 
(II) any successor in interest of such 
an employer; and 
(iii) includes an agency described in sub-
paragraph (A)(iii) of section 101(4) of the 
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 
U.S.C. 2611(4)), to which subparagraph (B) of 
such section shall apply; 
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(B) is an entity employing a State em-
ployee described in section 304(a) of the Gov-
ernment Employee Rights Act of 1991 (42 
U.S.C. 2000e–16c(a)); 
(C) is an employing office, as defined in 
section 101 of the Congressional Accountability 
Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301); 
(D) is an employing office, as defined in 
section 411(c) of title 3, United States Code; 
(E) is an employing agency covered under 
subchapter V of chapter 63 of title 5, United 
States Code; or 
(F) is the Comptroller General of the 
United States. 
(4) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’, except as 
used with the term ‘‘person in commerce’’, has the 
meaning given the term in section 3(a) of the Fair 
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(a)). 
(5) PERSON IN COMMERCE.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘person in 
commerce’’ means any person who is engaged 
in commerce, in any industry or activity affect-
ing commerce, or in the production of goods for 
commerce. 
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(B) COMMERCE.—In subparagraph (A), 
the term ‘‘commerce’’ includes government. 
(6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Labor. 
SEC. 202. ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS 
OF HOURS WORKED. 
(a) RULE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—An employer shall not dis-
criminate against an employee on the basis that 
such employee is scheduled to work fewer hours per 
week, or is employed for a shorter expected duration, 
than another employee of the employer if the jobs of 
such employees require substantially equal skill, ef-
fort, responsibility, and duties and such jobs are per-
formed under similar working conditions. 
(2) EXAMPLES.—Discrimination described in 
paragraph (1) shall include differential treatment 
with respect to— 
(A) rate of compensation; 
(B) notice of, and input into, work hours; 
(C) eligibility to accrue, on a pro rata 
basis, employer-provided paid and unpaid time 
off and other benefits; 
(D) promotion opportunities; or 
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(E) other terms, conditions, or privileges of 
employment. 
(b) DISTINCTIONS PERMITTED.—This section shall 
not be construed to prohibit differences in rate of com-
pensation, or other conditions, terms, or privileges of em-
ployment, of employees of an employer for reasons other 
than the number of hours the employees are scheduled to 
work per week, or the expected duration of employment 
of the employees, including for reasons such as— 
(1) the date on which the employees are hired; 
(2) a merit system; or 
(3) a system that measures earnings by quan-
tity per hour or quality of production. 
SEC. 203. OFFER OF WORK TO EXISTING EMPLOYEES. 
(a) WRITTEN STATEMENTS REQUIRED.—Upon hir-
ing an employee, an employer shall— 
(1) obtain a written statement of the employee’s 
desired number of weekly work hours and the days 
and times the employee is available to work; 
(2) notify the employee that this written state-
ment may be modified in writing at any time during 
employment; and 
(3) specify the process to modify the written 
statement. 
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(b) OFFER OF DESIRED WEEKLY WORK HOURS TO 
EXISTING EMPLOYEES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), an employer shall schedule an employee 
to work the number of weekly hours identified by the 
employee as desired weekly hours in a written state-
ment under subsection (a) prior to hiring any new 
employee from an external applicant pool, including 
hiring through the use of a temporary services or 
staffing agency, or contracting with a contractor or 
subcontractor, to work such hours. 
(2) EXCEPTIONS.—An employer may hire an 
individual as a new employee, or engage a contractor 
or subcontractor, to perform work for the employer 
if— 
(A) the employer needs to fill hours for 
which no existing employees who have provided 
written statements under subsection (a) are 
available based on such written statements; 
(B) all existing employees who have pro-
vided written statements under subsection (a) 
lack, and cannot obtain with reasonable train-
ing, the qualifications necessary to perform the 
work; or 
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(C) scheduling any such employee to per-
form the work would require providing such em-
ployee overtime compensation at a rate not less 
than one and one half times the regular rate at 
which the employee is employed, in accordance 
with section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act 
of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 207) or any State law. 
(c) COMPENSATION REQUIRED.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), an employee (referred to in this sub-
section as an ‘‘existing employee’’) who is not sched-
uled for the desired number of total weekly work 
hours identified by the employee in a written state-
ment under subsection (a) shall be compensated for 
each hour worked by a newly hired employee, con-
tractor, or subcontractor hired after the existing em-
ployee so identified such number of hours, during an 
hour that such existing employee identified in a writ-
ten statement under such subsection as an hour for 
which the employee is available to work. 
(2) EXCEPTION.—An employer shall not be re-
quired to compensate an existing employee under 
paragraph (1) for any hour of work for which— 
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(A) the employee lacks, or cannot obtain 
with reasonable training, the qualifications nec-
essary to perform the work; 
(B) scheduling such employee to perform 
the work would require providing the employee 
overtime compensation as described in sub-
section (b)(2)(C); 
(C) the employer made a reasonable at-
tempt to contact the employee to work such 
hour and was unable to reach the employee; or 
(D) the employee was otherwise no longer 
available. 
(d) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 
terms ‘‘written’’, with respect to a statement, and ‘‘writ-
ing’’ mean a printed or printable communication in phys-
ical or electronic form. 
SEC. 204. PROHIBITED ACTS. 
(a) INTERFERENCE WITH RIGHTS.—It shall be un-
lawful for any employer to interfere with, restrain, or deny 
the exercise or the attempt to exercise, any rights set forth 
under this title. 
(b) RETALIATION PROHIBITED.—It shall be unlawful 
for any employer to discharge, threaten to discharge, de-
mote, suspend, reduce work hours of, or otherwise dis-
criminate (including taking any other adverse employment 
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action) against any person because of an employee of the 
employer exercising the rights of the employee under this 
title or opposing any practice made unlawful by this title. 
(c) INTERFERENCE WITH PROCEEDINGS OR INQUIR-
IES.—It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge or 
in any other manner discriminate against an individual be-
cause such individual— 
(1) has filed any charge, or has instituted or 
caused to be instituted any proceeding, under or re-
lated to this title; 
(2) has given, or is about to give, any informa-
tion in connection with any inquiry or proceeding re-
lating to any right provided under this title; or 
(3) has testified, or is about to testify, in any 
inquiry or proceeding relating to any right provided 
under this title. 
SEC. 205. REMEDIES AND ENFORCEMENT. 
(a) INVESTIGATIVE AUTHORITY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—To ensure compliance with 
this title, including any regulation or order issued 
under this title, the Secretary shall have, subject to 
paragraph (3), the investigative authority provided 
under section 11(a) of the Fair Labor Standards 
Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 211(a)). 
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(2) OBLIGATION
TO
KEEP
AND
PRESERVE 
RECORDS.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Each employer shall 
maintain for a period of not less than 3 years, 
or for the duration of any claim (including the 
duration of a related civil action or investiga-
tion) pending pursuant to this title, whichever 
is longer, all records necessary to demonstrate 
compliance with this title, including compliance 
with the requirements of regulations issued by 
the Secretary under section 206. Such records 
shall include documentation of offers of hours 
of work to employees and responses to such of-
fers. 
(B) COPIES.—Each employer shall, upon a 
reasonable request of an employee of the em-
ployer, provide the employee with a copy of the 
records described in subparagraph (A) relating 
to the employee. 
(3) REQUIRED SUBMISSIONS GENERALLY LIM-
ITED TO AN ANNUAL BASIS.—The Secretary shall 
not require, under the authority of this subsection, 
any employer to submit to the Secretary any books 
or records more than once during any 12-month pe-
riod, unless the Secretary has reasonable cause to 
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believe there may exist a violation of this title, in-
cluding any regulation or order issued pursuant to 
this title, or is investigating a charge pursuant to 
subsection (c). 
(4) SUBPOENA POWERS.—For the purposes of 
any investigation provided for in this subsection, the 
Secretary shall have the subpoena authority provided 
for under section 9 of the Fair Labor Standards Act 
of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 209). 
(b) CIVIL ACTION BY EMPLOYEES.— 
(1) LIABILITY.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Any employer who vio-
lates section 202, 203, or 204 (each such provi-
sion referred to in this section as a ‘‘covered 
provision’’) shall be liable to any person af-
fected for— 
(i) damages equal to the amount of— 
(I) any wages, salary, employ-
ment benefits (as defined in section 
101 of the Family and Medical Leave 
Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611)), or 
other compensation denied, lost, or 
owed to such employee by reason of 
the violation; or 
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(e) OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS.— 
(1) EMPLOYEES COVERED BY CONGRESSIONAL 
ACCOUNTABILITY
ACT
OF
1995.—The powers and 
procedures provided in the Congressional Account-
ability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) to the 
Board (as defined in section 101 of that Act (2 
U.S.C. 1301)), or any person, alleging a violation of 
section 202(a)(1) of that Act (2 U.S.C. 1312(a)(1)) 
shall be the powers and procedures this title provides 
to that Board, or any person, alleging a violation of 
this title against an employee described in section 
201(2)(C). 
(2) EMPLOYEES COVERED BY CHAPTER 5 OF 
TITLE 3, UNITED STATES CODE.—The powers and 
procedures provided in chapter 5 of title 3, United 
States Code, to the President, the Merit Systems 
Protection Board, or any person, alleging a violation 
of section 412(a)(1) of that title, shall be the powers 
and procedures this title provides to the President, 
that Board, or any person, respectively, alleging a 
violation of this title against an employee described 
in section 201(2)(D). 
(3) EMPLOYEES COVERED BY CHAPTER 63 OF 
TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE.—The powers and 
procedures provided in title 5, United States Code, 
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