Title: Federal Employee Paid Leave Act
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Federal Employee Paid Leave Act
This bill provides paid family leave for certain federal employees in all instances covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act, which currently only guarantees unpaid leave for such instances.
Specifically, the bill requires that the 12 weeks of administrative leave to which certain federal employees are entitled for family care be paid leave. This applies to all federal employees in the competitive service (all civilian positions in the executive branch, all positions in the legislative and judicial branches, and all positions in the government of the District of Columbia), congressional employees, Government Accountability Office employees, employees who are members of the National Guard or Reserves, and certain Transportation Security Administration employees.
The Office of Personnel Management is authorized to increase the amount of paid parental leave available to such employees to a total of 16 administrative work weeks.


[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1534 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1534

 To provide that 12 weeks of family leave made available to a Federal 
         employee shall be paid leave, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 5, 2019

   Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York (for herself, Ms. Norton, Ms. 
Pingree, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Connolly, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mrs. 
Beatty, Ms. Wexton, Mr. Hoyer, and Mr. Beyer) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and 
 in addition to the Committee on House Administration, 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 provide that 12 weeks of family leave made available to a Federal 
         employee shall be paid leave, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Employee Paid Leave Act''.

SEC. 2. PAID FAMILY LEAVE FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES COVERED BY TITLE 5.

    (a) In General.--Subsection (c) of section 6382 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended to read as follows:
    ``(c)(1) Leave granted under subsection (a) shall be paid leave.
    ``(2)(A) An employee may elect to substitute for any leave under 
such subsection any other paid leave which is available to such 
employee for that purpose.
    ``(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not be construed to require that an 
employee first use all or any portion of the other paid leave described 
in such subparagraph before being allowed to use leave under subsection 
(a).
    ``(3) Leave under subsection (a)--
            ``(A) shall be payable from any appropriation or fund 
        available for salaries or expenses for positions within the 
        employing agency;
            ``(B) shall not be considered to be annual or vacation 
        leave for purposes of section 5551 or 5552 or for any other 
        purpose; and
            ``(C) if not used by the employee before the end of the 12-
        month period (as referred to in subsection (a)(1)) to which it 
        relates, shall not accumulate for any subsequent use.
    ``(4) The Director of the Office of Personnel Management--
            ``(A) may promulgate regulations to increase the amount of 
        leave available to an employee under subsection (a) to a total 
        of not more than 16 administrative workweeks, based on the 
        consideration of--
                    ``(i) the benefits provided to the Federal 
                Government of increasing such leave, including enhanced 
                recruitment and retention of employees;
                    ``(ii) the cost to the Federal Government of 
                increasing the amount of such leave that is available 
                to employees;
                    ``(iii) trends in the private sector and in State 
                and local governments with respect to offering such 
                leave;
                    ``(iv) the Federal Government's role as a model 
                employer;
                    ``(v) the impact of increased leave under 
                subsection (a) on lower-income and economically 
                disadvantaged employees and their children; and
                    ``(vi) such other factors as the Director considers 
                necessary; and
            ``(B) shall prescribe any regulations necessary to carry 
        out this subsection, including the manner in which an employee 
        may designate any day or other period as to which such employee 
        wishes to use leave under subsection (a).''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall not 
be effective with respect to any birth or placement occurring before 
the end of the 6-month period beginning on the date of the enactment of 
this Act.

SEC. 3. PAID FAMILY LEAVE FOR CONGRESSIONAL EMPLOYEES.

    (a) Amendments to Congressional Accountability Act.--Section 202 of 
the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1312) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(1), by adding at the end the 
        following: ``In applying section 102(a)(1) of such Act to 
        covered employees, subsection (d) shall apply.'';
            (2) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as subsections 
        (e) and (f), respectively; and
            (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
    ``(d) Special Rule for Paid Family Leave for Congressional 
Employees.--
            ``(1) In general.--Any leave taken by a covered employee 
        under section 102(a)(1) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 
        1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612(a)(1)) shall be paid leave.
            ``(2) Amount of paid leave.--The paid leave that is 
        available to a covered employee for purposes of paragraph (1) 
        is--
                    ``(A) the number of weeks of paid family leave in 
                connection with the birth or placement involved that 
                correspond to the number of administrative workweeks of 
                paid family leave available to Federal employees under 
                section 6382(d)(3)(A) of title 5, United States Code; 
                and
                    ``(B) any additional paid vacation or sick leave 
                provided by the employing office to such employee.
            ``(3) Substitution.--An employee may elect to substitute 
        for any leave under such section 102(a)(1) any other paid leave 
        which is available to such employee for that purpose. The 
        previous sentence shall not be construed to require that an 
        employee first use all or any portion of the other paid leave 
        before being allowed to use the paid family leave described in 
        this subsection.
            ``(4) Additional rules.--Paid family leave under this 
        subsection--
                    ``(A) shall be payable from any appropriation or 
                fund available for salaries or expenses for positions 
                within the employing office; and
                    ``(B) if not used by the covered employee before 
                the end of the 12-month period (as referred to in 
                section 102(a)(1) of the Family and Medical Leave Act 
                of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612(a)(1))) to which it relates, 
                shall not accumulate for any subsequent use.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall not 
be effective with respect to any birth or placement occurring before 
the end of the 6-month period beginning on the date of the enactment of 
this Act.

SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT FOR GAO 
              EMPLOYEES.

    (a) Amendment to Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.--Section 
102(d) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612(d)) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Special rule for gao employees.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Any leave under subsection 
                (a)(1) taken by an employee of the Government 
                Accountability Office shall be paid leave.
                    ``(B) Amount of paid leave.--The paid leave that is 
                available to such an employee for purposes of 
                subparagraph (A) is--
                            ``(i) the number of weeks of paid family 
                        leave in connection with the birth or placement 
                        involved that correspond to the number of 
                        administrative workweeks of paid family leave 
                        available to Federal employees under section 
                        6382(d)(3)(A) of title 5, United States Code; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) any additional paid vacation or sick 
                        leave provided by such employer.
                    ``(C) Substitution.--An employee may elect to 
                substitute for any leave under subsection (a)(1) any 
                other paid leave which is available to such employee 
                for that purpose. The previous sentence shall not be 
                construed to require that an employee first use all or 
                any portion of the other paid leave before being 
                allowed to use the paid family leave described in this 
                subsection.
                    ``(D) Additional rules.--Paid family leave under 
                subsection (a)(1)--
                            ``(i) shall be payable from any 
                        appropriation or fund available for salaries or 
                        expenses for positions with the Government 
                        Accountability Office; and
                            ``(ii) if not used by the employee of such 
                        employer before the end of the 12-month period 
                        (as referred to in subsection (a)(1)) to which 
                        it relates, shall not accumulate for any 
                        subsequent use.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall not 
be effective with respect to any birth or placement occurring before 
the end of the 6-month period beginning on the date of the enactment of 
this Act.

SEC. 5. CLARIFICATION FOR MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL GUARD AND RESERVES.

    (a) Executive Branch Employees.--For purposes of determining the 
eligibility of an employee who is a member of the National Guard or 
Reserves to take leave under section 6382(a) of title 5, United States 
Code, or to substitute such leave pursuant to paragraph (2) of such 
section (as added by section 2), any service by such employee on active 
duty (as defined in section 6381(7) of such title) shall be counted as 
service as an employee for purposes of section 6381(1)(B) of such 
title.
    (b) Congressional Employees.--For purposes of determining the 
eligibility of a covered employee (as such term is defined in section 
101(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act) who is a member of the 
National Guard or Reserves to take leave under section 102(a)(1) of the 
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (pursuant to section 202(a)(1) of 
the Congressional Accountability Act), or to substitute such leave 
pursuant to subsection (d) of section 202 of such Act (as added by 
section 3), any service by such employee on active duty (as defined in 
section 101(14) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993) shall be 
counted as time during which such employee has been employed in an 
employing office for purposes of section 202(a)(2)(B) of the 
Congressional Accountability Act.
    (c) GAO Employees.--For purposes of determining the eligibility of 
an employee of the Government Accountability Office who is a member of 
the National Guard or Reserves to take leave under section 102(a)(1) of 
the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, or to substitute such leave 
pursuant to paragraph (3) of section 102(d) of such Act (as added by 
section 4), any service by such employee on active duty (as defined in 
section 101(14) of such Act) shall be counted as time during which such 
employee has been employed for purposes of section 101(2)(A) of such 
Act.

SEC. 6. CONFORMING AMENDMENT FOR CERTAIN TSA EMPLOYEES.

    Section 111(d)(2) of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act 
(49 U.S.C. 44935 note) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(2) Exceptions.--
                    ``(A) Reemployment.--In carrying out the functions 
                authorized under paragraph (1), the Under Secretary 
                shall be subject to the provisions set forth in chapter 
                43 of title 38, United States Code.
                    ``(B) Leave.--The provisions of section 6382(a)(1) 
                of title 5, United States Code, and subsection (c) of 
                such section shall apply to any individual appointed 
                under paragraph (1).''.
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