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]
[S. 1174 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1174

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 11, 2019

 Mr. Schatz (for himself, Mr. Brown, Mr. Van Hollen, and Mr. Merkley) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
        Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide that 12 weeks of 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 LEAVE FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES COVERED BY TITLE 5.

    (a) In General.--Section 6382 of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended by striking subsections (c) and (d) and inserting the 
following:
    ``(c)(1) Subject to paragraph (2), leave taken by an employee under 
subsection (a) shall be paid leave.
    ``(2) The paid leave that is available to an employee for purposes 
of paragraph (1) is--
            ``(A) 12 administrative workweeks of paid leave, in 
        connection with the birth, placement, or other event involved 
        for which leave may be taken under subsection (a), in the 12-
        month period referred to in subsection (a); or
            ``(B) if regulations are promulgated under subsection (d), 
        the number of administrative workweeks specified in the 
        regulations.
    ``(3)(A) An employee may elect to substitute for any leave under 
subsection (a)(3) any other paid leave which is available to such 
employee for the purpose described in that subsection.
    ``(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 the paid leave 
described in paragraph (1).
    ``(4) Paid leave described in paragraph (1)--
            ``(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 (referred to in subsection (a)) to which it 
        relates, shall not accumulate for any subsequent use.
    ``(5) The Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall 
prescribe any regulations necessary to carry out this subsection, 
including regulations specifying the manner in which an employee may 
designate any day or other period as to which such employee wishes to 
use paid leave described in paragraph (1) under subsection (a).
    ``(d) The Director of the Office of Personnel Management may 
promulgate regulations to increase the amount of paid leave available 
to an employee under subsection (a) to a total of not more than 16 
administrative workweeks, based on the consideration of--
            ``(1) the benefits provided to the Federal Government of 
        increasing such leave, including enhanced recruitment and 
        retention of employees;
            ``(2) the cost to the Federal Government of increasing the 
        amount of such leave;
            ``(3) trends in the private sector and in State and local 
        governments with respect to offering an increased amount of 
        paid leave;
            ``(4) the Federal Government's role as a model employer;
            ``(5) the impact of increased paid leave under subsection 
        (a) on lower-income and economically disadvantaged employees 
        and their children; and
            ``(6) such other factors as the Director considers 
        necessary.''.
    (b) Application.--The amendment made by this section shall not 
apply with respect to any event that--
            (1) is a birth, placement, or other event for which leave 
        may be taken under section 6382(a) of title 5, United States 
        Code; and
            (2) occurs before the end of the 6-month period beginning 
        on the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. PAID 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) 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 Leave for Congressional Employees.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), leave taken by 
        a covered employee under section 102(a) of the Family and 
        Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612(a)) 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 leave, in 
                connection with the birth, placement, or other event 
                involved for which leave may be taken under section 
                6382(a) of title 5, United States Code, that 
                corresponds to the number of administrative workweeks 
                of paid leave available to Federal employees under 
                section 6382(a) of title 5, United States Code (taking 
                into account any increase under section 6382(d) of that 
                title); and
                    ``(B) any additional paid vacation leave, personal 
                leave, family leave, or sick or medical leave provided 
                by the employing office to such employee.
            ``(3) Substitution.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A covered employee may elect to 
                substitute for any leave under paragraph (3) of such 
                section 102(a) any other paid leave which is available 
                to such covered employee for the purpose described in 
                that paragraph. Section 102(d)(2) of the Family and 
                Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612(d)(2)) shall 
                not apply to covered employees.
                    ``(B) Construction.--Subparagraph (A) shall not be 
                construed to require that a covered employee first use 
                all or any portion of the other paid leave described in 
                such subparagraph before being allowed to use the paid 
                leave described in paragraph (2)(A).
            ``(4) Additional rules.--Paid leave described in paragraph 
        (1)--
                    ``(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 (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) Application.--The amendment made by this section shall not 
apply with respect to any event that--
            (1) is a birth, placement, or other event for which leave 
        may be taken under section 102(a) of the Family and Medical 
        Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612(a)); and
            (2) occurs 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.--Subject to subparagraph (B), any 
                leave taken by an employee of the Government 
                Accountability Office under subsection (a) 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 leave, in 
                        connection with the birth, placement, or other 
                        event involved for which leave may be taken 
                        under section 6382(a) of title 5, United States 
                        Code, that corresponds to the number of 
                        administrative workweeks of paid leave 
                        available to Federal employees under section 
                        6382(a) of title 5, United States Code (taking 
                        into account any increase under section 6382(d) 
                        of that title); and
                            ``(ii) any additional paid vacation leave, 
                        personal leave, family leave, or sick or 
                        medical leave provided by such employer to such 
                        employee.
                    ``(C) Substitution.--
                            ``(i) In general.--An employee of the 
                        Government Accountability Office may elect to 
                        substitute for any leave under subsection 
                        (a)(3) any other paid leave which is available 
                        to such employee for the purpose described in 
                        that subsection. Paragraph (2) shall not apply 
                        to employees of the Government Accountability 
                        Office.
                            ``(ii) Construction.--Clause (i) shall not 
                        be construed to require that an employee first 
                        use all or any portion of the other paid leave 
                        described in such clause before being allowed 
                        to use the paid leave described in subparagraph 
                        (B)(i).
                    ``(D) Additional rules.--Paid leave described in 
                subparagraph (A)--
                            ``(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 
                        (referred to in subsection (a)(1)) to which it 
                        relates, shall not accumulate for any 
                        subsequent use.''.
    (b) Application.--The amendment made by this section shall not 
apply with respect to any event that--
            (1) is a birth, placement, or other event for which leave 
        may be taken under section 102(a) of the Family and Medical 
        Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612(a)); and
            (2) occurs 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 described in section 6381(1)(A) of title 5, 
United States Code, who is a member of the National Guard or Reserves 
to take leave under section 6382(a) of such title, any service by such 
employee on covered 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 (meaning an employee defined as or 
considered to be a covered employee under section 101 of the 
Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301)) 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 (29 U.S.C. 
2612(a)(1)) (pursuant to section 202(a)(1) of the Congressional 
Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1312(a)(1))), any service by such 
covered employee on covered active duty (as defined in section 101(14) 
of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611(14))) 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 of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1312(a)(2)(B)).
    (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 (29 U.S.C. 2612(a)(1)), any 
service by such employee on covered active duty (as defined in section 
101(14) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2611(14))) shall be counted as time 
during which such employee has been employed for purposes of section 
101(2)(A) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2611(2)(A)).

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) of 
                title 5, United States Code, and subsections (c) and 
                (d) of such section shall apply to any individual 
                appointed under paragraph (1).''.
                                 <all>