I
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3837
To provide unemployment insurance and leave from employment to battered
women.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 17, 1996
Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD (for herself, Ms. WOOLSEY, and Ms. NORTON) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways
and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Economic and Edu-
cational Opportunities, Government Reform and Oversight, and House
Oversight, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned.
A BILL
To provide unemployment insurance and leave from
employment to battered women.
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 ‘‘Battered Women’s
Employment Protection Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
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(1) violence against women is the leading cause
of physical injury to women, and the Department of
Justice estimates that intimate partners commit
more than one million violent crimes against women
every year;
(2) the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that
women will account for two-thirds of all new en-
trants into the workforce between now and the year
2000;
(3) violence against women dramatically affects
women’s workforce participation, insofar as one-
quarter of battered women surveyed had lost a job
due at least in part to the effects of domestic vio-
lence, and over half had been harassed by their
abuser at work;
(4) the availability of economic support is a
critical factor in women’s ability to leave abusive sit-
uations that threaten them and their children, and
over half of battered women surveyed stayed with
their batterers because they lacked resources to sup-
port themselves and their children;
(5) a report by the New York City Victims
Services Agency found that abusive spouses and
lovers harass 74 percent of battered women at work
and 54 percent of battering victims miss at least 3
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days of work per month and 56 percent are late for
work at least 5 times per month, and a University
of Minnesota study found that 24 percent of women
in support groups for battered women had lost a job
partly because of being abused;
(6) a survey of State unemployment insurance
agency directors by the Federal Advisory Council on
Unemployment Compensation found that in 31
States battered women who leave work as a result
of domestic violence do not qualify for unemploy-
ment benefits, in 9 States the determination often
varies depending on the facts and circumstances,
and in only 13 States are they usually considered
qualified for unemployment benefits;
(7) a study by the New York State Department
of Labor found that, when filing for unemployment
insurance benefits, domestic violence victims fre-
quently hide their victimization and do not disclose
the domestic violence as a reason for their problems
with the job or need to separate from employment;
(8) the same New York State study found that
75 percent of employed victims of domestic violence
must communicate with doctors, lawyers, shelters,
counselors, family and friends from their workplaces
because they cannot do so at home;
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(9) 49 percent of senior executives recently sur-
veyed said domestic violence has a harmful effect on
their company’s productivity, 47 percent said domes-
tic violence negatively affects attendance, and 44
percent said domestic violence increases health care
costs, and the Bureau of National Affairs estimates
that domestic violence costs employers between 3
and 5 billion dollars per year; and
(10) existing Federal and State legislation does
not expressly authorize battered women to take leave
from work to seek legal assistance and redress,
counseling, or assistance with safety planning and
activities.
(b) PURPOSES.—Pursuant to the affirmative power
of Congress to enact this Act under section 5 of the Four-
teenth Amendment to the Constitution, as well as under
section 8 of Article I of the Constitution, the purposes of
this Act are—
(1) to promote the national interest in reducing
domestic violence by enabling victims of domestic vi-
olence to maintain the financial independence nec-
essary to leave abusive situations, to achieve safety
and minimize the physical and emotional injuries
from domestic violence, and to reduce the devastat-
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ing economic consequences of domestic violence,
by—
(A) providing unemployment insurance for
victims of domestic violence who are forced to
leave their employment as a result of domestic
violence; and
(B) entitling employed victims of domestic
violence to take reasonable leave to seek medi-
cal help, legal assistance, counseling, and safety
planning and assistance without penalty from
their employer;
(2) to promote the purposes of the Fourteenth
Amendment by protecting the civil and economic
rights of victims of domestic violence and by further-
ing the equal opportunity of women and men to em-
ployment and economic self-sufficiency;
(3) to minimize the negative impact on inter-
state commerce from dislocations of employees and
harmful effects on productivity, health care costs,
and employer costs from domestic violence; and
(4) to accomplish the purposes described in
paragraphs (1) , (2) and (3) in a manner that ac-
commodates the legitimate interests of employers.
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SEC. 3. UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION.
(a) 
UNEMPLOYMENT
COMPENSATION.—Section
3304(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amend-
ed—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph
(18),
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (19) and inserting ‘‘; and’’,
(3) by adding after paragraph (19) the follow-
ing:
‘‘(20) compensation is to be provided where an
individual is separated from employment due to cir-
cumstances directly resulting from the individual’s
experience of domestic violence.’’,
(4) by redesignating subsections (b) through (f)
as subsections (c) through (g), respectively, and
(5) by adding after subsection (a) the following:
‘‘(b) CONSTRUCTION.—
‘‘(1) For the purpose of determining, under
subsection (a)(20), whether an employee’s separation
from employment is ‘directly resulting’ from the in-
dividual’s experience of domestic violence, it shall be
sufficient if the separation from employment re-
sulted from—
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‘‘(A) sought protection from or assistance
in responding to domestic violence, including
calling the police or seeking legal, social work,
medical, clergy, or other assistance;
‘‘(B) sought safety, including refuge in a
shelter or temporary or permanent relocation,
whether or not the employee actually obtained
such refuge or accomplished such relocation; or
‘‘(C) reasonably believed that options such
as a leave, transfer, or alternative work sched-
ule would not be sufficient to guarantee the em-
ployee or the employee’s family’s safety.
‘‘(3) For purposes of subsection (a)(20), where
State law requires the employee to actively search
for employment after separation from employment
as a condition for receiving unemployment com-
pensation, such requirement shall be deemed to be
met where the employee is temporarily unable to ac-
tively search for employment because the employee is
engaged in seeking safety or relief for the employee
or the employee’s family from domestic violence, in-
cluding—
‘‘(A) going into hiding or relocating or at-
tempting to do so, including activities associ-
ated with such relocation or hiding, such as
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seeking to obtain sufficient shelter, food, school-
ing for children, or other necessities of life for
the employee or the employee’s family;
‘‘(B) actively pursuing legal protection or
remedies, including meeting with the police,
going to court to make inquiries or file papers,
meeting with attorneys, or attending court pro-
ceedings; or
‘‘(C) participating in psychological, social,
or religious counseling or support activities to
assist the employee in ending domestic violence.
‘‘(4) In determining if an employee meets the
requirements of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), the
employer or reviewer of any claim of an employee
may require the employee to provide a statement
along with—
‘‘(A) documentation, such as police or
court records, or documentation from a shelter
worker, attorney, clergy, medical or other pro-
fessional from whom the employee has sought
assistance in dealing with domestic violence; or
‘‘(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
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domestic violence, such as photographs, torn or
bloody clothes, etc.’’
(b) SOCIAL SECURITY PERSONNEL TRAINING.—Sec-
tion 303(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
503(a)(4)) is amended by redesignating paragraphs (4)
through (10) as paragraphs (5) through (11), respectively,
and by adding after paragraph (3) the following:
‘‘(4) Such methods of administration as will en-
sure that claims reviewers and hearing personnel are
adequately trained in the nature and dynamics of
domestic violence and in methods of ascertaining in-
formation about possible experiences of domestic vio-
lence, so that employment separations stemming
from domestic violence are reliably screened, identi-
fied, and adjudicated.’’.
(c) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3306 of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the
following:
‘‘(u) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—The term ‘domestic vio-
lence’ includes abuse committed against an employee or
a family member of the employee by—
‘‘(1) a current or former spouse of the em-
ployee;
‘‘(2) a person with whom the employee shares
a child in common;
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‘‘(3) a person who is cohabitating with or has
cohabitated with the employee as a romantic or inti-
mate partner; or
‘‘(4) a person from whom the employee would
be eligible for protection under the domestic vio-
lence, protection order, or family laws of the juris-
diction in which the employee resides or the em-
ployer is located.
‘‘(v) ABUSE.—The term ‘abuse’ includes—
‘‘(1) physical acts resulting in, or threatening to
result in, physical injury;
‘‘(2) sexual abuse, sexual activity involving a
dependent child, or threats of or attempts at sexual
abuse;
‘‘(3) mental abuse, including threats, intimida-
tion, acts designed to induce terror, or restraints on
liberty; and
‘‘(4) deprivation of medical care, housing, food
or other necessities of life.’’.
SEC. 4. LEAVE FROM EMPLOYMENT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Employers subject to the Federal
Family and Medical Leave Act (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.),
any State law addressing family, medical, sick, or other
kind of leave from employment, or an employment benefits
program or policy or collective bargaining agreement ad-
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dressing family, medical, sick, or other kind of leave from
employment, shall provide leave to employees seeking tem-
porary absences from employment to deal with domestic
violence and its aftermath in accordance with this section.
(b) EXISTING LEAVE USEABLE FOR DOMESTIC VIO-
LENCE.—Where family, medical, sick, or any other kind
of leave from employment is available to employees pursu-
ant to the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
(29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.), any State law, an existing em-
ployment benefits program or plan, or collective bargain-
ing agreement, employees shall be entitled to use such
leave for the purpose of dealing with domestic violence and
its aftermath.
(c) MINIMUM LEAVE FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Any employee who is not en-
titled to leave from employment for the purpose of
dealing with domestic violence and its aftermath
pursuant to subsection (b) or who has used up the
employee’s available leave pursuant to subsection (b)
and who is not an employee who has taken 12 weeks
of leave for the purpose of dealing with domestic vio-
lence and its aftermath, shall be entitled to take up
to 10 days per year of unpaid leave without penalty,
for that purpose.
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(2) SUBSTITUTION.—An employee may elect, or
an employer may require the employee, to substitute
accrued paid leave for any part of the 10 days of un-
paid leave provided under paragraph (1).
(d) DEALING WITH DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND ITS
AFTERMATH.—The following activities constitute means of
‘‘dealing with domestic violence and its aftermath,’’ which
shall render an employee eligible for leave under this sec-
tion:
(1) Experiencing domestic violence.
(2) Seeking medical attention for injuries
caused by domestic violence, except for ‘‘serious
health conditions’’ where covered by the Family and
Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.).
(3) Seeking legal assistance or remedies, includ-
ing communicating with the police or an attorney, or
participating in any legal proceeding related to do-
mestic violence.
(4) Attending support groups for victims of do-
mestic violence.
(5) Obtaining psychological counseling related
to experiences of domestic violence.
(6) Participating in safety planning and other
actions to increase safety from future domestic vio-
lence, including temporary or permanent relocation.