WATCH LIST: FMLA Expansion Act

• FMLA issues

Full text:

• H.R. 1369

Summary:

The Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act ( H.R. 1369) consists of several titles (also referred to as “Acts”), each of which addresses family and medical leave issues.

(a) The Family Income to Respond to Significant Transitions Insurance Act would direct the Secretary of Labor to make five-year grants to a state or local government to pay for the federal share of the cost of carrying out projects that assist families by providing wage replacement for eligible individuals responding to caregiving needs resulting from the birth or adoption of a son or daughter or other family caregiving needs.

(b) The Family and Medical Leave Fairness Act of 2005 [sic] would amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) to extend coverage to employees at worksites where the employer employs at least 25 (currently 50) employees at the worksite and within 75 miles of that worksite. It would also amend the FMLA and federal civil service law to entitle to leave those employees who must address the effects of domestic violence.

(c) The Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act of 2005 [sic] would permit the Office of Personnel Management to contract with one or more employing agencies to conduct a grant project that provides paid leave for eligible individuals who are responding to caregiving needs resulting from the birth or adoption of a son or daughter or other family caregiving needs. It would require the leave to last for at least six weeks during a 12-month period.

(d) The Time for Schools Act of 2005 [sic] would amend the FMLA to allow covered employees to take up to 24 hours, during any 12-month period, of school involvement leave to participate in: (1) an academic activity of their child's school, such as a parent-teacher conference or an interview for a school; or (2) literacy training under a family literacy program. Amends federal civil service law to provide the same school involvement leave allowance for federal employees.