I 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4575 
To provide for paid sick leave to ensure that Americans can address their 
own health needs and the health needs of their families. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 15, 2004 
Ms. DELAURO (for herself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. MCNUL-
TY, Mr. WAXMAN, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. 
SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. OWENS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. 
RANGEL, Ms. CORRINE
BROWN
of Florida, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. 
GRIJALVA, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. WYNN, Mr. 
OBERSTAR, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. BACA, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Ms. 
KILPATRICK, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. MCGOV-
ERN, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Ms. WATERS, Mr. BRADY of Pennsyl-
vania, Ms. LEE, Mr. EVANS, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Ms. 
MCCOLLUM, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDON-
ALD, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. HINCHEY, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. 
KILDEE, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. SANDLIN, Ms. MCCARTHY of Missouri, Mr. 
BROWN of Ohio, Mr. STARK, Ms. WOOLSEY, and Mr. LARSON of Con-
necticut) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Commit-
tees on Government Reform and House Administration, for a period to 
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To provide for paid sick leave to ensure that Americans 
can address their own health needs and the health needs 
of their families.
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 ‘‘Healthy Families Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) Working Americans need to take time off 
for their own health care needs or to perform essen-
tial caretaking responsibilities for a wide range of 
family members, including, among others, their chil-
dren, spouse, parents, and parents-in-law, and other 
children and adults for whom they are caretakers. 
(2) Health care needs include preventive health 
care, diagnostic procedures, medical treatment, and 
recovery in response to short- and long-term ill-
nesses and injuries. 
(3) Providing employees time off to tend to 
their own health care needs ensures that they will be 
healthier in the long run. Preventive care helps avoid 
illnesses and injuries and routine medical care helps 
detect illnesses early and shorten the duration of ill-
nesses. 
(4) When parents are available to care for their 
children who become sick, the children’s recovery is 
faster, more serious illnesses are prevented, and the
children’s overall mental and physical health is im-
proved. Parents who cannot afford to miss work and 
must send children with a contagious illness to child 
care or school contribute to the high rate of infec-
tions in child care centers and schools. 
(5) Routine medical care results in savings by 
decreasing medical costs by detecting and treating 
illness and injury early, decreasing the need for 
emergency care. These savings benefit public and 
private payers of health insurance, including private 
businesses. 
(6) The provision of individual and family sick 
leave by large and small businesses, both here in the 
United States and elsewhere, demonstrates that pol-
icy solutions are both feasible and affordable in a 
competitive economy. Measures that ensure that em-
ployees are both in good health themselves and do 
not need to worry about unmet family health prob-
lems help businesses by promoting productivity and 
reducing employee turnover. 
(7) The absence of sick leave has forced Ameri-
cans to make untenable choices between needed in-
come and jobs on the one hand and caring for their 
own and their family’s health on the other.
(8) The majority of middle income Americans 
lack paid leave for self-care or to care for a family 
member. Low-income Americans are significantly 
worse off. Of the poorest families (the lowest quar-
tile), 76 percent lack regular sick leave. For families 
in the next 2 quartiles, 63 percent and 54 percent, 
respectively lack regular sick leave. Even in the 
highest income quartile, 40 percent of families lack 
regular sick leave. Less than 1⁄2 of workers who have 
paid sick leave can use it to care for ill children. 
(9) It is in the national interest to ensure that 
Americans from all demographic groups can care for 
their own health and the health of their families 
while prospering at work. 
(10) Due to the nature of the roles of men and 
women in society, the primary responsibility for fam-
ily caretaking often falls on women, and such re-
sponsibility affects the working lives of women more 
than it affects the working lives of men. 
(11) Although women are still primarily respon-
sible for family caretaking, an increasing number of 
men are taking on caretaking obligations, and men 
who request leave time for caretaking purposes are 
often penalized because of stereotypes that care-
taking is only ‘‘women’s work’’.
(12) Employers’ reliance on persistent stereo-
types about the ‘‘proper’’ roles of both men and 
women in the workplace and in the home hurts both 
men and women. 
(13) 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. 
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 provide a 
minimum level of paid sick leave including leave 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 accomplish the purposes described in 
paragraphs (1) and (2) in a manner that is feasible 
for employers; 
(4) to accomplish the purposes described in 
paragraphs (1) and (2) in a manner that, consistent 
with the portion of the 14th amendment to the Con-
stitution relating to equal protection of the laws, 
minimizes the potential for employment discrimina-
tion on the basis of sex by ensuring generally that 
leave is available for eligible medical reasons on a 
gender-neutral basis; and 
(5) to promote the goal of equal employment 
opportunity for women and men, pursuant to such 
clause. 
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) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ means 
an individual— 
(A) who is— 
(i)(I) an employee (including an appli-
cant), 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 clause
(v), including such an employee of the Li-
brary of Congress, except that a reference 
in such section to an employer shall be 
considered to be a reference to an employer 
described in clauses (i)(I) and (ii) of para-
graph (3)(A); or 
(II) an employee (including an appli-
cant) of the General Accounting Office; 
(ii) a State employee (including an ap-
plicant) described in section 304(a) of the 
Government Employee Rights Act of 1991 
(42 U.S.C. 2000e–16c(a)); 
(iii) a covered employee (including an 
applicant), as defined in section 101 of the 
Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 
(2 U.S.C. 1301); 
(iv) a covered employee (including an 
applicant), as defined in section 411(c) of 
title 3, United States Code; or 
(v) an employee or applicant to which 
section 717(a) of the Civil Rights Act of 
1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16(a)) applies, 
other than an employee or applicant of the 
General Accounting Office or the Library 
of Congress; and
(B) who, on a year-round basis, regularly 
works at least 20 hours per week or, in the al-
ternative, at least 1,000 hours per year. 
(3) EMPLOYER.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘employer’’ 
means a person who is— 
(i)(I) an employer (as defined in sec-
tion 101(4) of the Family and Medical 
Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611(4))), 
who is not covered under clause (v), includ-
ing the General Accounting Office and the 
Library of Congress, except that a ref-
erence in such section to 50 or more em-
ployees shall be considered to be a ref-
erence to 15 or more employees; 
(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 entity to which section 717(a) 
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies, 
other than the General Accounting Office 
or the Library of Congress; and 
(ii) is engaged in commerce (including 
government), in the production of goods 
for commerce, or in an enterprise engaged 
in commerce (including government) or in 
the production of goods for commerce. 
(B) PREDECESSORS.—Any reference in 
this paragraph to an employer shall include a 
reference to any predecessor of such employer. 
(4) EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS.—The term ‘‘em-
ployment benefits’’ has the meaning given the term 
in section 101 of the Family and Medical Leave Act 
of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611). 
(5) HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL.—The term 
‘‘health care professional’’ has the meaning given the 
term ‘‘health care provider’’ in section 101 of the 
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 
2611). 
(6) 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. 
(7) PRO RATA.—The term ‘‘pro rata’’, with re-
spect to benefits offered to part-time employees, 
means the proportion of each of the benefits offered 
to full-time employees that are offered to part-time 
employees that, for each benefit, is equal to the ratio 
of part-time hours worked to full-time hours worked. 
(8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Labor. 
(9) SICK LEAVE.—The term ‘‘sick leave’’ means 
an increment of compensated leave provided by an 
employer to an employee as a benefit of employment 
for use by the employee during an absence from em-
ployment for any of the reasons described in para-
graphs (1) through (4) of section 5(d). 
(10) 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. 
SEC. 5. PROVISION OF PAID SICK LEAVE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—An employer shall provide for 
each employee employed by the employer not less than— 
(1) 7 days of sick leave with pay annually for 
employees working 30 or more hours per week; or
(2) a pro rata number of days of sick leave with 
pay annually for employees working less than— 
(A) 30 hours per week on a year-round 
basis; or 
(B) 1,500 hours throughout the year in-
volved. 
(b) ACCRUAL.—Sick leave provided for under this 
section shall accrue as determined appropriate by the em-
ployer, but not on less than a quarterly basis. Leave may 
be used as accrued or may be loaned by the employer to 
the employee in advance of accrual by such employee. 
(c) CALCULATION.— 
(1) LESS THAN A FULL WORKDAY.—Unless the 
employer and employee agree to designate otherwise, 
for periods of sick leave that are less than a normal 
workday, that leave shall be counted— 
(A) on an hourly basis; or 
(B) in the smallest increment that the em-
ployer’s payroll system uses to account for ab-
sences or use of leave. 
(2) VARIABLE SCHEDULE.—If the schedule of 
an employee varies from week to week, a weekly av-
erage of the hours worked over the 12-week period 
prior to the beginning of a sick leave period shall be 
used to calculate the employee’s normal workweek