Federal

Caring for All Families Act

Source: Congress.gov · 5,659 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill expands family and medical leave laws to include more relatives and allows additional leave for school and family wellness activities. It applies these changes to both private sector employees under federal law and federal government employees. The bill adds domestic partners, grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, in-laws, and people with close family-like bonds to the list of family members employees can take leave to care for. ##

Who It Affects

- Private sector employees covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act - Federal government employees - Employers with 50 or more employees - Employees with family members who have serious health conditions - Parents and guardians attending children's school activities - Employees caring for elderly relatives ##

Key Provisions

- Employees can take leave to care for a domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, in-law, or any person with whom they have a close family-like bond who has a serious health condition (Sec. 2(b) and Sec. 3(b)) - Employees can take up to 4 hours per 30-day period and 24 hours per year as additional leave to attend school or community activities for their children or grandchildren, or to handle routine family medical care and elderly relative visits (Sec. 4(a) and Sec. 5(a)) - Employees must give their employer at least 7 days' notice before taking school or family wellness leave, or as much notice as is practical (Sec. 4(d) and Sec. 5(d)) - Employees may use accrued paid vacation, personal leave, or sick leave to cover the new school and family wellness leave (Sec. 4(c) and Sec. 5(c)) - The term "domestic partner" includes people recognized as domestic partners under state law or unmarried adults in committed relationships designated by the employee (Sec. 2(a) and Sec. 3(a)) ##

What Changes

If enacted, employees will gain the right to take unpaid leave to care for additional family members beyond spouses, parents, and children. They will also be allowed up to 24 hours per year of new leave for attending their children's school events and managing routine family medical appointments. Employers must recognize domestic partners as eligible family members for leave purposes. Federal employees will receive these same expanded protections under federal law. ##

Important Definitions

- **Domestic partner**: A person recognized under state domestic partnership law, or an unmarried adult in a committed relationship with the employee who is designated as such and not in such a relationship with anyone else - **Serious health condition**: Not specified in bill text - **Community organization**: A private nonprofit organization representing a community and providing activities for children, like scouting or sports organizations - **School**: Elementary or secondary school, Head Start programs, or licensed child care facilities - **"Any other individual whose close association is the equivalent of a family relationship"**: Any person with whom the employee has a significant personal bond that is or is like a family relationship, regardless of biological or legal relationship ##

Effective Date

Not specified in bill text

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 789 To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and title 5, United States Code, to permit leave to care for a domestic partner, parent- in-law, or adult child, or another related individual, who has a serious health condition, and to allow employees to take, as additional leave, parental involvement and family wellness leave to participate in or attend their children’s and grandchildren’s educational and extracurricular ac- tivities or meet family care needs. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 2, 2023 Mrs. HAYES (for herself, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. NORTON, Mr. EVANS, Mr. POCAN, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, Ms. TOKUDA, Ms. BUDZINSKI, Ms. UNDERWOOD, and Ms. BUSH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Work- force, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Accountability, and House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with- in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and title 5, United States Code, to permit leave to care for a domestic partner, parent-in-law, or adult child, or another related individual, who has a serious health condition, and to allow employees to take, as additional leave, parental involvement and family wellness leave to participate in or attend their children’s and grand- children’s educational and extracurricular activities or meet family care needs. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Mar 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H789.IH H789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 789 IH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Caring for All Families 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. LEAVE TO CARE FOR A DOMESTIC PARTNER, SON- 6 IN-LAW, DAUGHTER-IN-LAW, PARENT-IN-LAW, 7 ADULT CHILD, GRANDPARENT, GRANDCHILD, 8 OR SIBLING OF THE EMPLOYEE, OR AN- 9 OTHER RELATED INDIVIDUAL. 10 (a) DEFINITIONS.— 11 (1) INCLUSION OF RELATED INDIVIDUALS.— 12 Section 101 of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 13 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611) is amended by adding at the 14 end the following: 15 ‘‘(20) ANY OTHER INDIVIDUAL WHOSE CLOSE 16 ASSOCIATION IS THE EQUIVALENT OF A FAMILY RE- 17 LATIONSHIP.—The term ‘any other individual whose 18 close association is the equivalent of a family rela- 19 tionship’, used with respect to an employee, means 20 any person with whom the employee has a signifi- 21 cant personal bond that is or is like a family rela- 22 tionship, regardless of biological or legal relation- 23 ship. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Mar 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H789.IH H789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 789 IH ‘‘(21) DOMESTIC PARTNER.—The term ‘domes- 1 tic partner’, used with respect to an employee, 2 means— 3 ‘‘(A) the person recognized as the domestic 4 partner of the employee under any domestic 5 partnership or civil union law of a State or po- 6 litical subdivision of a State; or 7 ‘‘(B) in the case of an unmarried em- 8 ployee, an unmarried adult person who is in a 9 committed, personal relationship with the em- 10 ployee, is not a domestic partner as described 11 in subparagraph (A) to or in such a relation- 12 ship with any other person, and who is des- 13 ignated to the employer by such employee as 14 that employee’s domestic partner. 15 ‘‘(22) GRANDCHILD.—The term ‘grandchild’ 16 means the son or daughter of an employee’s son or 17 daughter. 18 ‘‘(23) GRANDPARENT.—The term ‘grandparent’ 19 means a parent of a parent of an employee. 20 ‘‘(24) NEPHEW; NIECE.—The terms ‘nephew’ 21 and ‘niece’, used with respect to an employee, mean 22 a son or daughter of the employee’s sibling. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Mar 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H789.IH H789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 789 IH ‘‘(25) PARENT-IN-LAW.— The term ‘parent-in- 1 law’ means a parent of the spouse or domestic part- 2 ner of an employee. 3 ‘‘(26) SIBLING.—The term ‘sibling’ means any 4 person who is a son or daughter of an employee’s 5 parent (other than the employee). 6 ‘‘(27) SON-IN-LAW; DAUGHTER-IN-LAW.—The 7 terms ‘son-in-law’ and ‘daughter-in-law’, used with 8 respect to an employee, mean any person who is a 9 spouse or domestic partner of a son or daughter, as 10 the case may be, of the employee. 11 ‘‘(28) UNCLE; AUNT.—The terms ‘uncle’ and 12 ‘aunt’, used with respect to an employee, mean the 13 son or daughter, as the case may be, of the employ- 14 ee’s grandparent (other than the employee’s par- 15 ent).’’. 16 (2) INCLUSION OF ADULT CHILDREN AND CHIL- 17 DREN OF A DOMESTIC PARTNER.—Section 101(12) 18 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2611(12)) is amended— 19 (A) by inserting ‘‘a child of an individual’s 20 domestic partner,’’ after ‘‘a legal ward,’’; and 21 (B) by striking ‘‘who is—’’ and all that 22 follows and inserting ‘‘and includes an adult 23 child.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Mar 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H789.IH H789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 789 IH (b) LEAVE REQUIREMENT.—Section 102 of the Fam- 1 ily and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612) is 2 amended— 3 (1) in subsection (a)— 4 (A) in paragraph (1)— 5 (i) in subparagraph (C), by striking 6 ‘‘spouse, or a son, daughter, or parent, of 7 the employee, if such spouse, son, daugh- 8 ter, or parent’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse or 9 domestic partner, or a son or daughter, 10 son-in-law or daughter-in-law, parent, par- 11 ent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sib- 12 ling, uncle or aunt, or nephew or niece of 13 the employee, or any other individual 14 whose close association is the equivalent of 15 a family relationship with the employee, if 16 such spouse, domestic partner, son or 17 daughter, son-in-law or daughter-in-law, 18 parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grand- 19 child, sibling, uncle or aunt, or nephew or 20 niece, or such other individual’’; and 21 (ii) in subparagraph (E), by striking 22 ‘‘spouse, or a son, daughter, or parent of 23 the employee’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse or do- 24 mestic partner, or a son or daughter, son- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Mar 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H789.IH H789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 789 IH in-law or daughter-in-law, parent, parent- 1 in-law, grandchild, sibling, uncle or aunt, 2 or nephew or niece of the employee, or any 3 other individual whose close association is 4 the equivalent of a family relationship with 5 the employee’’; and 6 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘spouse, 7 son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of a cov- 8 ered servicemember’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse or 9 domestic partner, son or daughter, son-in-law 10 or daughter-in-law, parent, parent-in-law, 11 grandparent, sibling, uncle or aunt, nephew or 12 niece, or next of kin of a covered servicemem- 13 ber, or any other individual whose close associa- 14 tion is the equivalent of a family relationship 15 with the covered servicemember’’; 16 (2) in subsection (e)— 17 (A) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘son, 18 daughter, spouse, parent, or covered service- 19 member of the employee, as appropriate’’ and 20 inserting ‘‘son or daughter, son-in-law or 21 daughter-in-law, spouse or domestic partner, 22 parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, 23 sibling, uncle or aunt, nephew or niece, or cov- 24 ered servicemember of the employee, or any 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Mar 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H789.IH H789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 789 IH other individual whose close association is the 1 equivalent of a family relationship with the em- 2 ployee, as appropriate’’; and 3 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘spouse, 4 or a son, daughter, or parent, of the employee’’ 5 and inserting ‘‘spouse or domestic partner, or a 6 son or daughter, son-in-law or daughter-in-law, 7 parent, parent-in-law, grandchild, sibling, uncle 8 or aunt, or nephew or niece of the employee, or 9 any other individual whose close association is 10 the equivalent of a family relationship with the 11 employee, as appropriate,’’; and 12 (3) in subsection (f)— 13 (A) in paragraph (1)— 14 (i) in the matter preceding subpara- 15 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘, or domestic 16 partners,’’ after ‘‘husband and wife’’; and 17 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 18 ‘‘or parent-in-law’’ after ‘‘parent’’; and 19 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, or 20 those domestic partners,’’ after ‘‘husband and 21 wife’’ each place it appears. 22 (c) CERTIFICATION.—Section 103 of the Family and 23 Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2613) is amend- 24 ed— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Mar 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H789.IH H789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 789 IH (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘son, daugh- 1 ter, spouse, or parent of the employee, or of the next 2 of kin of an individual in the case of leave taken 3 under such paragraph (3), as appropriate’’ and in- 4 serting ‘‘son or daughter, son-in-law or daughter-in- 5 law, spouse or domestic partner, parent, parent-in- 6 law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, uncle or aunt, 7 or nephew or niece of the employee, or the next of 8 kin of an individual, or any other individual whose 9 close association is the equivalent of a family rela- 10 tionship with the employee, as appropriate’’; and 11 (2) in subsection (b)— 12 (A) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking ‘‘son, 13 daughter, spouse, or parent and an estimate of 14 the amount of time that such employee is need- 15 ed to care for the son, daughter, spouse, or par- 16 ent’’ and inserting ‘‘son or daughter, son-in-law 17 or daughter-in-law, spouse or domestic partner, 18 parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, 19 sibling, uncle or aunt, or nephew or niece of the 20 employee, or any other individual whose close 21 association is the equivalent of a family rela- 22 tionship with the employee, as appropriate, and 23 an estimate of the amount of time that such 24 employee is needed to care for such son or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Mar 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H789.IH H789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 789 IH daughter, son-in-law or daughter-in-law, spouse 1 or domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, 2 grandparent, grandchild, sibling, uncle or aunt, 3 or nephew or niece, or such other individual’’; 4 and 5 (B) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘son, 6 daughter, parent, or spouse who has a serious 7 health condition, or will assist in their recov- 8 ery,’’ and inserting ‘‘son or daughter, son-in-law 9 or daughter-in-law, spouse or domestic partner, 10 parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, 11 sibling, uncle or aunt, or nephew or niece, with 12 a serious health condition, of the employee, or 13 an individual, with a serious health condition, 14 who is any other individual whose close associa- 15 tion is the equivalent of a family relationship 16 with the employee, as appropriate, or will assist 17 in the recovery,’’. 18 (d) EMPLOYMENT AND BENEFITS PROTECTION.— 19 Section 104(c)(3) of the Family and Medical Leave Act 20 of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2614(c)(3)) is amended— 21 (1) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking ‘‘son, 22 daughter, spouse, or parent of the employee, as ap- 23 propriate,’’ and inserting ‘‘son or daughter, son-in- 24 law or daughter-in-law, spouse or domestic partner, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Mar 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H789.IH H789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 789 IH parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sib- 1 ling, uncle or aunt, or nephew or niece of the em- 2 ployee, or any other individual whose close associa- 3 tion is the equivalent of a family relationship with 4 the employee, as appropriate,’’; and 5 (2) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by striking ‘‘son, 6 daughter, spouse, or parent’’ and inserting ‘‘employ- 7 ee’s son or daughter, son-in-law or daughter-in-law, 8 spouse or domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, 9 grandparent, grandchild, sibling, uncle or aunt, or 10 nephew or niece, or (with relation to the employee) 11 any other individual whose close association is the 12 equivalent of a family relationship, as appropriate,’’. 13 SEC. 3. LEAVE TO CARE FOR A DOMESTIC PARTNER, SON- 14 IN-LAW, DAUGHTER-IN-LAW, PARENT-IN-LAW, 15 ADULT CHILD, GRANDPARENT, GRANDCHILD, 16 OR SIBLING OF THE EMPLOYEE, OR AN- 17 OTHER RELATED INDIVIDUAL FOR FEDERAL 18 EMPLOYEES. 19 (a) DEFINITIONS.— 20 (1) INCLUSION OF A DOMESTIC PARTNER, SON- 21 IN-LAW, DAUGHTER-IN-LAW, PARENT-IN-LAW, ADULT 22 CHILD, GRANDPARENT, GRANDCHILD, OR SIBLING 23 OF THE EMPLOYEE, OR ANOTHER INDIVIDUAL 24 WHOSE CLOSE ASSOCIATION IS THE EQUIVALENT OF 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Mar 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H789.IH H789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 789 IH A FAMILY RELATIONSHIP.—Section 6381 of title 5, 1 United States Code, is amended— 2 (A) in paragraph (11) by striking ‘‘; and’’ 3 and inserting a semicolon; 4 (B) in paragraph (12), by striking the pe- 5 riod and inserting a semicolon; and 6 (C) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(13) the term ‘any other individual whose 8 close association is the equivalent of a family rela- 9 tionship’, used with respect to an employee, means 10 any person with whom the employee has a signifi- 11 cant personal bond that is or is like a family rela- 12 tionship, regardless of biological or legal relation- 13 ship; 14 ‘‘(14) the term ‘domestic partner’, used with re- 15 spect to an employee, means— 16 ‘‘(A) the person recognized as the domestic 17 partner of the employee under any domestic 18 partnership or civil union law of a State or po- 19 litical subdivision of a State; or 20 ‘‘(B) in the case of an unmarried em- 21 ployee, an unmarried adult person who is in a 22 committed, personal relationship with the em- 23 ployee, is not a domestic partner as described 24 in subparagraph (A) or in such a relationship 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Mar 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H789.IH H789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 789 IH with any other person, and who is designated to 1 the employing agency by such employee as that 2 employee’s domestic partner; 3 ‘‘(15) the term ‘grandchild’ means the son or 4 daughter of an employee’s son or daughter; 5 ‘‘(16) the term ‘grandparent’ means a parent of 6 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]

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