FAMILY Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 248 To provide paid family and medical leave benefits to certain individuals, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 4, 2021 Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. REED, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. KING, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WARREN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. BROWN, Mr. LUJA´N, Mr. BENNET, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. MURPHY, Ms. SMITH, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. CAR- PER, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. CASEY, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. HEINRICH) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Fi- nance A BILL To provide paid family and medical leave benefits to certain individuals, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Family and Medical 4 Insurance Leave Act’’ or the ‘‘FAMILY Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S248.IS S248 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 248 IS SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 2 (1) CAREGIVING DAY.—The term ‘‘caregiving 3 day’’ means, with respect to an individual, a cal- 4 endar day in which the individual engaged in quali- 5 fied caregiving. 6 (2) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Commis- 7 sioner’’ means the Commissioner of Social Security. 8 (3) DEPUTY COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Dep- 9 uty Commissioner’’ means the Deputy Commissioner 10 who heads the Office of Paid Family and Medical 11 Leave established under section 3(a). 12 (4) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘eligible 13 individual’’ means an individual who is entitled to a 14 benefit under section 4 for a particular month, upon 15 filing an application for such benefit for such month. 16 (5) INITIAL WAITING PERIOD.—The term ‘‘ini- 17 tial waiting period’’ means a period beginning with 18 the first caregiving day of an individual occurring 19 during the individual’s benefit period and ending 20 after the earlier of— 21 (A) the fifth caregiving day of the indi- 22 vidual occurring during the benefit period; or 23 (B) the month preceding the first month in 24 the benefit period during which occur not less 25 than 15 caregiving days of the individual. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S248.IS S248 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 248 IS (6) QUALIFIED CAREGIVING.—The term ‘‘quali- 1 fied caregiving’’ means any activity engaged in by an 2 individual, other than regular employment, for a rea- 3 son for which an eligible employee would be entitled 4 to leave under subparagraphs (A) through (E) of 5 paragraph (1) of section 102(a) of the Family and 6 Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612(a)). 7 (7) SELF-EMPLOYMENT INCOME.—The term 8 ‘‘self-employment income’’ has the same meaning as 9 such term in section 211(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 10 411(b)). 11 (8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any 12 State of the United States or the District of Colum- 13 bia or any territory or possession of the United 14 States. 15 (9) WAGES.—The term ‘‘wages’’, except as such 16 term is used in subsection (h)(2) of section 4, has 17 the same meaning as such term in section 209 of the 18 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 409). 19 (10) 60-DAY LIMITATION PERIOD.—The term 20 ‘‘60-day limitation period’’ means a period— 21 (A) beginning with the first caregiving day 22 of an individual occurring during the individ- 23 ual’s benefit period and after the expiration of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S248.IS S248 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 248 IS the individual’s 5-day waiting period, if applica- 1 ble; and 2 (B) ending with the 60th caregiving day of 3 the individual occurring during the benefit pe- 4 riod and after the expiration of the 5-day wait- 5 ing period, 6 disregarding any caregiving day of the individual oc- 7 curring during any month in the benefit period after 8 the first 20 caregiving days of the individual occur- 9 ring during such month. 10 SEC. 3. OFFICE OF PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE. 11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE.—There is estab- 12 lished within the Social Security Administration an office 13 to be known as the Office of Paid Family and Medical 14 Leave. The Office shall be headed by a Deputy Commis- 15 sioner who shall be appointed by the Commissioner. 16 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF DEPUTY COMMIS- 17 SIONER.—The Commissioner, acting through the Deputy 18 Commissioner, shall be responsible for— 19 (1) hiring personnel and making employment 20 decisions with regard to such personnel; 21 (2) issuing such regulations as may be nec- 22 essary to carry out the purposes of this Act; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S248.IS S248 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 248 IS (3) entering into cooperative agreements with 1 other agencies and departments to ensure the effi- 2 ciency of the administration of the program; 3 (4) determining eligibility for family and med- 4 ical leave insurance benefits under section 4; 5 (5) determining benefit amounts for each 6 month of such eligibility and making timely pay- 7 ments of such benefits to entitled individuals in ac- 8 cordance with such section; 9 (6) establishing and maintaining a system of 10 records relating to the administration of such sec- 11 tion; 12 (7) preventing fraud and abuse relating to such 13 benefits; 14 (8) providing information on request regarding 15 eligibility requirements, the claims process, benefit 16 amounts, maximum benefits payable, notice require- 17 ments, nondiscrimination rights, confidentiality, co- 18 ordination of leave under this Act and other laws, 19 collective bargaining agreements, and employer poli- 20 cies; 21 (9) annually providing employers a notice in- 22 forming employees of the availability of such bene- 23 fits; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S248.IS S248 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 248 IS (10) annually making available to the public a 1 report that includes the number of individuals who 2 received such benefits, the purposes for which such 3 benefits were received, and an analysis of utilization 4 rates of such benefits by gender, race, ethnicity, and 5 income levels; and 6 (11) tailoring culturally and linguistically com- 7 petent education and outreach toward increasing uti- 8 lization rates of benefits under such section. 9 (c) AVAILABILITY OF DATA.—The Commissioner 10 shall make available to the Deputy Commissioner such 11 data as the Commissioner determines necessary to enable 12 the Deputy Commissioner to effectively carry out the re- 13 sponsibilities described in subsection (b). 14 SEC. 4. FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE INSURANCE BENEFIT 15 PAYMENTS. 16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Every individual who— 17 (1) is insured for disability insurance benefits 18 (as determined under section 223(c) of the Social 19 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 423(c))) at the time such 20 individual’s application is filed; 21 (2) has earned income from employment during 22 the 12 months prior to the month in which the ap- 23 plication is filed; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S248.IS S248 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 248 IS (3) has filed an application for a family and 1 medical leave insurance benefit in accordance with 2 subsection (d); and 3 (4) was engaged in qualified caregiving, or an- 4 ticipates being so engaged, during the period that 5 begins 90 days before the date on which such appli- 6 cation is filed or within 30 days after such date, 7 shall be entitled to such a benefit for each month in the 8 benefit period specified in subsection (c), not to exceed 60 9 caregiving days per benefit period. 10 (b) BENEFIT AMOUNT.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro- 12 vided in this subsection, the benefit amount to which 13 an individual is entitled under this section for a 14 month shall be an amount equal to the greater of— 15 (A) the lesser of 1⁄18 of the wages and self- 16 employment income of the individual for the 17 calendar year in which such wages and self-em- 18 ployment income are the highest among the 19 most recent three calendar years, or the max- 20 imum benefit amount determined under para- 21 graph (2); or 22 (B) the minimum benefit amount deter- 23 mined under paragraph (2), 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S248.IS S248 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 248 IS multiplied by the quotient (not greater than 1) ob- 1 tained by dividing the number of caregiving days of 2 the individual in such month by 20. 3 (2) ANNUAL INCREASE OF MAXIMUM AND MIN- 4 IMUM BENEFIT AMOUNTS.— 5 (A) For individuals who initially become el- 6 igible for family and medical leave insurance 7 benefits in the first full calendar year after the 8 date of enactment of this Act, the maximum 9 monthly benefit amount and the minimum 10 monthly benefit amount shall be $4,000 and 11 $580, respectively. 12 (B) For individuals who initially become el- 13 igible for family and medical leave insurance 14 benefits in any calendar year after such first 15 full calendar year the maximum benefit amount 16 and the minimum benefit amount shall be, re- 17 spectively, the product of the corresponding 18 amount determined with respect to the first cal- 19 endar year under subparagraph (A) and the 20 quotient obtained by dividing— 21 (i) the national average wage index 22 (as defined in section 209(k)(1) of the So- 23 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 409(k)(1))) 24 for the second calendar year preceding the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S248.IS S248 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 248 IS calendar year for which the determination 1 is made, by 2 (ii) the national average wage index 3 (as so defined) for 2020. 4 (3) LIMITATIONS ON BENEFITS PAID.— 5 (A) NONPAYABLE WAITING PERIOD.—Any 6 calendar day during an individual’s benefit pe- 7 riod which occurs before the expiration of an 8 initial waiting period shall not be taken into ac- 9 count under this subsection as a caregiving day 10 of the individual. 11 (B) LIMITATION ON TOTAL BENEFITS 12 PAID.—Any calendar day during an individual’s 13 benefit period which occurs after the expiration 14 of a 60-day limitation period shall not be taken 15 into account under this subsection as a 16 caregiving day of the individual. 17 (4) REDUCTION IN BENEFIT AMOUNT ON AC- 18 COUNT OF RECEIPT OF CERTAIN BENEFITS.—A ben- 19 efit under this section for a month shall be reduced 20 by the amount, if any, in certain benefits (as deter- 21 mined under regulations issued by the Commis- 22 sioner) as may be otherwise received by an indi- 23 vidual. For purposes of the preceding sentence, cer- 24 tain benefits include— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S248.IS S248 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 248 IS (A) periodic benefits on account of such in- 1 dividual’s total or partial disability under a 2 workmen’s compensation law or plan of the 3 United States or a State; and 4 (B) periodic benefits on account of an indi- 5 vidual’s employment status under an unemploy- 6 ment law or plan of the United States or a 7 State. 8 (5) COORDINATION OF BENEFIT AMOUNT WITH 9 CERTAIN STATE BENEFITS.—A benefit received 10 under this section shall be coordinated, in a manner 11 determined by regulations issued by the Commis- 12 sioner, with the periodic benefits received from tem- 13 porary disability insurance or family leave insurance 14 programs under any law or plan of a State, a polit- 15 ical subdivision (as that term is used in section 16 218(b)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 17 418(b)(2))), or an instrumentality of two or more 18 States (as that term is used in section 218(g) of 19 such Act of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 20 418(g))). 21 (c) BENEFIT PERIOD.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 23 graph (2), the benefit period specified in this sub- 24 section shall begin on the 1st day of the 1st month 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S248.IS S248 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 248 IS in which the individual meets the criteria specified in 1 paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (a), and 2 shall end on the date that is 365 days after the 1st 3 day of the benefit period. 4 (2) RETROACTIVE BENEFITS.—In the case of 5 an application for benefits under this section for 6 qualified caregiving in which the individual was en- 7 gaged at any time during the 90-day period pre- 8 ceding the date on which such application is sub- 9 mitted, the benefit period specified in this subsection 10 shall begin on the later of— 11 (A) the 1st day of the 1st month in which 12 the individual engaged in such qualified 13 caregiving; or 14 (B) the 1st day of the 1st month that be- 15 gins during such 90-day period, 16 and shall end on the date that is 365 days after the 17 1st day of the benefit period. 18 (d) APPLICATION.—An application for a family and 19 medical leave insurance benefit shall include— 20 (1) a statement that the individual was engaged 21 in qualified caregiving, or anticipates being so en- 22 gaged, during the period that begins 90 days before 23 the date on which the application is submitted or 24 within 30 days after such date; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S248.IS S248 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 248 IS (2) if the qualified caregiving described in the 1 statement in paragraph (1) is engaged in by the in- 2 dividual because of a serious health condition of the 3 individual or a relative of the individual, a certifi- 4 cation, issued by the health care provider treating 5 such serious health condition, that affirms the infor- 6 mation specified in paragraph (1) and contains such 7 information as the Commissioner shall specify in 8 regulations, which shall be no more than the infor- 9 mation that is required to be stated under section 10 103(b) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 11 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2613(b)); 12 (3) if such qualified caregiving is engaged in by 13 the indivi [Text truncated for display. 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