(15) Employers’ reliance on persistent stereo-
types about the ‘‘proper’’ roles of both men and 
women in the workplace and in the home continues 
a cycle of discrimination and fosters stereotypical 
views about women’s commitment to work and their 
value as employees. 
(16) Employment standards that apply to only 
one gender have serious potential for encouraging 
employers to discriminate against employees and ap-
plicants for employment who are of that gender. 
(17) It is in the national interest to ensure that 
all Americans can care for their own health and the 
health of their families while prospering at work. 
(18) Nearly 1 in 3 American women report 
physical or sexual abuse by a husband or boyfriend 
at some point in their lives. Domestic violence also 
affects men. Women account for about 85 percent of 
the victims of domestic violence and men account for 
approximately 15 percent of the victims. Therefore, 
women disproportionately need time off to care for 
their health or to find solutions, such as obtaining 
a restraining order or finding housing, to avoid or 
prevent physical or sexual abuse. 
(19) Up to 85 percent of domestic violence vic-
tims miss work because of abuse. The mean number 
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of days of paid work lost by a rape victim is 8.1 
days, by a victim of physical assault is 7.2 days, and 
by a victim of stalking is 10.1 days. Nationwide, do-
mestic violence victims lose almost 8,000,000 days of 
paid work per year. 
(20) Without paid sick days that can be used 
to address the effects of domestic violence, these vic-
tims are in grave danger of losing their jobs. Sur-
veys have found that 96 to 98 percent of employed 
domestic violence victims experience problems at 
work related to the violence. The Government Ac-
countability Office similarly found that 24 to 52 per-
cent of victims report losing a job due, at least in 
part, to domestic violence. The loss of employment 
can be particularly devastating for victims of domes-
tic violence, who often need economic security to en-
sure safety. 
(21) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention has estimated that domestic violence costs 
over $700,000,000 annually due to the victims’ lost 
productivity in employment. 
(22) Efforts to assist abused employees result 
in positive outcomes for employers as well as em-
ployees because employers can retain workers who 
might otherwise be compelled to leave. In a 2002 
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survey, 68 percent of corporate leaders surveyed said 
that a company’s financial performance would ben-
efit from addressing domestic violence among its em-
ployees. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are— 
(1) to ensure that all working Americans can 
address their own health needs and the health needs 
of their families by requiring employers to permit 
employees to earn up to 56 hours of paid sick time 
including paid time for family care; 
(2) to diminish public and private health care 
costs by enabling workers to seek early and routine 
medical care for themselves and their family mem-
bers; 
(3) to assist employees who are, or whose fam-
ily members are, victims of domestic violence, sexual 
assault, or stalking, by providing the employees with 
paid time away from work to allow the victims to re-
ceive treatment and to take the necessary steps to 
ensure their protection; 
(4) to accomplish the purposes described in 
paragraphs (1) through (3) in a manner that is fea-
sible for employers; and 
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(5) consistent with the provision of the 14th 
amendment to the Constitution relating to equal 
protection of the laws, and pursuant to Congress’ 
power to enforce that provision under section 5 of 
that amendment— 
(A) to accomplish the purposes described 
in paragraphs (1) through (3) in a manner that 
minimizes the potential for employment dis-
crimination on the basis of sex by ensuring gen-
erally that paid sick time is available for eligible 
medical reasons on a gender-neutral basis; and 
(B) to promote the goal of equal employ-
ment opportunity for women and men. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) CHILD.—The term ‘‘child’’ means a biologi-
cal, foster, or adopted child, a stepchild, a legal 
ward, or a child of a person standing in loco 
parentis, who is— 
(A) under 18 years of age; or 
(B) 18 years of age or older and incapable 
of self-care because of a mental or physical dis-
ability. 
(2) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘domestic 
violence’’ has the meaning given the term in section 
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40002(a) of the Violence Against Women Act of 
1994 (42 U.S.C. 13925(a)), except that the ref-
erence in such section to the term ‘‘jurisdiction re-
ceiving grant monies’’ shall be deemed to mean the 
jurisdiction in which the victim lives or the jurisdic-
tion in which the employer involved is located. 
(3) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ means 
an individual who is— 
(A)(i) 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 
subparagraph (E), including such an employee 
of the Library of Congress, except that a ref-
erence in such section to an employer shall be 
considered to be a reference to an employer de-
scribed in clauses (i)(I) and (ii) of paragraph 
(4)(A); or 
(ii) an employee of the Government Ac-
countability Office; 
(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 section 
101 of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 
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(2 U.S.C. 1301), other than an applicant for em-
ployment; 
(D) a covered employee, as defined in section 
411(c) of title 3, United States Code; or 
(E) a Federal officer or employee covered under 
subchapter V of chapter 63 of title 5, United States 
Code. 
(4) EMPLOYER.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘employer’’ 
means a person who is— 
(i)(I) a covered employer, as defined 
in subparagraph (B), who is not covered 
under subclause (V); 
(II) an entity employing a State em-
ployee described in section 304(a) of the 
Government Employee Rights Act of 1991; 
(III) an employing office, as defined 
in section 101 of the Congressional Ac-
countability Act of 1995; 
(IV) an employing office, as defined in 
section 411(c) of title 3, United States 
Code; or 
(V) an employing agency covered 
under subchapter V of chapter 63 of title 
5, United States Code; and 
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Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 
U.S.C. 203(e)). 
(III) PERSON.—The term ‘‘per-
son’’ has the same meaning given 
such term in section 3(a) of the Fair 
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 
U.S.C. 203(a)). 
(C) PREDECESSORS.—Any reference in 
this paragraph to an employer shall include a 
reference to any predecessor of such employer. 
(5) EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS.—The term ‘‘em-
ployment benefits’’ means all benefits provided or 
made available to employees by an employer, includ-
ing group life insurance, health insurance, disability 
insurance, sick leave, annual leave, educational bene-
fits, and pensions, regardless of whether such bene-
fits are provided by a practice or written policy of 
an employer or through an ‘‘employee benefit plan’’, 
as defined in section 3(3) of the Employee Retire-
ment Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 
1002(3)). 
(6) HEALTH
CARE
PROVIDER.—The term 
‘‘health care provider’’ means a provider who— 
(A)(i) is a doctor of medicine or osteopathy 
who is authorized to practice medicine or sur-
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gery (as appropriate) by the State in which the 
doctor practices; or 
(ii) is any other person determined by the 
Secretary to be capable of providing health care 
services; and 
(B) is not employed by an employer for 
whom the provider issues certification under 
this Act. 
(7) PAID
SICK
TIME.—The term ‘‘paid sick 
time’’ means an increment of compensated leave that 
can be earned by an employee for use during an ab-
sence from employment for any of the reasons de-
scribed in paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 
5(b). 
(8) PARENT.—The term ‘‘parent’’ means a bio-
logical, foster, or adoptive parent of an employee, a 
stepparent of an employee, or a legal guardian or 
other person who stood in loco parentis to an em-
ployee when the employee was a child. 
(9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Labor. 
(10) SEXUAL ASSAULT.—The term ‘‘sexual as-
sault’’ has the meaning given the term in section 
40002(a) of the Violence Against Women Act of 
1994 (42 U.S.C. 13925(a)). 
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(11) SPOUSE.—The term ‘‘spouse’’, with re-
spect to an employee, has the meaning given such 
term by the marriage laws of the State in which the 
employee resides. 
(12) STALKING.—The term ‘‘stalking’’ has the 
meaning given the term in section 40002(a) of the 
Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 
13925(a)). 
(13) VICTIM
SERVICES
ORGANIZATION.—The 
term ‘‘victim services organization’’ means a non-
profit, nongovernmental organization that provides 
assistance to victims of domestic violence, sexual as-
sault, or stalking or advocates for such victims, in-
cluding a rape crisis center, an organization carrying 
out a domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking 
prevention or treatment program, an organization 
operating a shelter or providing counseling services, 
or a legal services organization or other organization 
providing assistance through the legal process. 
SEC. 5. PROVISION OF PAID SICK TIME. 
(a) ACCRUAL OF PAID SICK TIME.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—An employer shall permit 
each employee employed by the employer to earn not 
less than 1 hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours 
worked, to be used as described in subsection (b). 
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An employer shall not be required to permit an em-
ployee to earn, under this section, more than 56 
hours of paid sick time in a calendar year, unless 
the employer chooses to set a higher limit. 
(2) EXEMPT EMPLOYEES.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
paragraph (3), for purposes of this section, an 
employee who is exempt from overtime require-
ments under section 13(a)(1) of the Fair Labor 
Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 213(a)(1)) 
shall be assumed to work 40 hours in each 
workweek. 
(B) SHORTER
NORMAL
WORKWEEK.—If 
the normal workweek of such an employee is 
less than 40 hours, the employee shall earn 
paid sick time based upon that normal work 
week. 
(3) DATES OF ACCRUAL AND USE.—Employees 
shall begin to earn paid sick time under this section 
at the commencement of their employment. An em-
ployee shall be entitled to use the earned paid sick 
time beginning on the 60th calendar day following 
commencement of the employee’s employment. After 
that 60th calendar day, the employee may use the 
paid sick time as the time is earned. An employer 
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may, at the discretion of the employer, loan paid 
sick time to an employee in advance of the earning 
of such time under this section by such employee. 
(4) CARRYOVER.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), paid sick time earned under 
this section shall carry over from 1 calendar 
year to the next. 
(B) CONSTRUCTION.—This Act shall not 
be construed to require an employer to permit 
an employee to accrue more than 56 hours of 
earned paid sick time at a given time. 
(5) EMPLOYERS
WITH
EXISTING
POLICIES.— 
Any employer with a paid leave policy who makes 
available an amount of paid leave that is sufficient 
to meet the requirements of this section and that 
may be used for the same purposes and under the 
same conditions as the purposes and conditions out-
lined in subsection (b) shall not be required to per-
mit an employee to earn additional paid sick time 
under this section. 
(6) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section 
shall be construed as requiring financial or other re-
imbursement to an employee from an employer upon 
the employee’s termination, resignation, retirement, 
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