By a vote of 278 to 146, the House of Representatives has passed the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act of 2008 (H.R. 5781). The Act proposes to extend paid parental leave benefits to federal employees. Specifically, the law would allow federal employees to substitute any available paid leave for any leave without pay available for either the: (1) birth of a child; or (2) placement of a child with the employee for either adoption or foster care. Moreover, it would provide up to four weeks of paid parental leave, within the current twelve-week unpaid window, in connection with a birth or placement.

Nearly concurrent with the House approval, Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) introduced companion legislation in the Senate (S.3140).

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that implementing H.R. 5781 would cost $60 million in 2009, $190 million in 2010, and a total of $850 million over the 2009-2013 period, subject to the appropriation of the necessary funds.  Accordingly, the Washington Post reports that “the White House [has] threatened to veto the bill, calling it a ‘costly, unnecessary, new paid leave entitlement.’"

Employers must follow developments nonetheless, as the FEPPLA is only one of the many efforts underway on the federal and state levels intended to expand the scope of the Family Medical Leave Act and/or to require paid leave benefits. 

by Katie Dodd

The trend to provide paid family and medical leave seen in several states (California, Washington, and New Jersey) now has proponents in Congress. Legislation has been introduced in the House and Senate that would provide employees with paid medical leave to care for themselves or close relatives. The bills contain different eligibility requirements and provide different benefits. The bills both establish an insurance trust fund that is funded by contributions from employers and employees. Employers are reimbursed from the insurance fund for leave benefits paid to employees.

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The U.S. Department of Labor has created a web page covering its February 11, 2008 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Amend the Family and Medical Leave Act Regulations. The web page contains the text of the proposed changes, FAQ’s, and information about how to submit comments.

According to a February 8, 2008 press release:

Proposed changes include increased notice obligations for employers so that employees will better understand their FMLA rights, while revising the employee notice rules to minimize workplace disruptions due to unscheduled FMLA absences. The proposal also contains technical changes to reflect decisions by the Supreme Court and lower courts. A new section addresses recently enacted legislation to expand the FMLA entitlement to 26 workweeks for certain military family members caring for a service member with a serious illness or injury.

ADDITIONAL READING:

• DOL Issues Proposed Amendments to FMLS Regulations
• DOL Updates FMLA Regulations – A Benefits Perspective

Daniel Schwartz of Epstein, Becker & Green, who writes  the excellent Connecticut Employment Law Blog, notes that the President plans to veto the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes additional Family and Medical Leave “[b]ecause of any qualifying exigency” arising from the employee’s spouse, child, or parent being on active duty or ordered to active duty in the armed forces. 

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by Chuck Rice

On Friday, December 14, 2008, the Senate voted 90-3 to approve the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 1585 ). The President is expected to sign the bill, which, as we reported earlier, contains provisions to expand the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to grant eligible relatives of wounded service members the right to take up to twenty-six weeks of job-protected leave during a twelve-month period to care for the service member .

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Having faced a set-back on the issue in October, Congress continues to pursue an amendment to the Family and Medical Leave Act that would grant eligible relatives of wounded service members the right to take up to twenty-six weeks of job-protected leave during a twelve-month period to care for the service member. Originally introduced as a stand-alone bill (S. 1975), the proposed amendment to the FMLA was incorporated earlier this year into a bill to reauthorize the Children’s Heath Insurance Program. That measure was adopted by both the House and the Senate, but was vetoed by President Bush on October 3, 2007.

The proposed FMLA amendment resurfaced on December 6, 2007, when it was included in a Department of Defense appropriations bill (H.R. 1585) as reported out of a joint conference committee. The House and the Senate are expected to address the appropriations bill this week. If enacted, the measure would give the spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of a wounded member of the U. S. Armed Forces the right to take up to twenty-six weeks of leave in a single twelve-month period to care for the service member. The leave right would apply to employees who constitute “eligible employees” under the FMLA, and leave taken to care for a wounded service member would count against an employee’s entitlement to up to twelve weeks of leave for other FMLA-qualifying reasons. 

Progressive States Network, a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide “coordinated research and strategic advocacy tools to state legislators and their staffs, empowering these decision-makers with everything they need to engineer forward-thinking change,” has published an update on state initiatives on family leave and paid sick leave. It’s an excellent summary of regulatory efforts on the state level.. It’s an excellent summary of regulatory efforts on the state level.

The Society for Human Resource Management has posted an excellent article on the various proposals to provide workplace leave for families of military personnel. The article, entitled Efforts To Expand FMLA for Military Caregivers Are Complex, reviews the assortment of proposals on the table and quotes Lisa Horn, manager of health care for the SHRM’S Governmental Affairs Department, as saying: “I believe we will see something happen soon. It’s really just a question of whether the proposal is attached to a bigger piece of legislation or if it is passed as a stand-alone measure.”

The House Committee on Education and Labor has announced that the Workforce Protections Subcommittee will hold a hearing on September 18, 2007 on "The Family and Medical Leave Act: Extending Coverage to Military Families Left at Home."  The Hearing is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. in room 2175 Rayburn building.  Witnesses have not yet been announced.

The Eugene, Oregon Register-Guard noted in Sunday’s edition that effective January 1, 2008, grandparents will be considered “family members” under the Oregon Family Leave Act. The OFLA, which previously provide family leave benefits to spouses, parents, children, parents-in-law, and same-sex domestic partners, was amended in 2007.

• Grandparents to be entitled to family leave