Family Medical Leave Modernization Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1185 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 15, 2021 Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. LEAHY, and Mr. BROWN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 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. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:28 May 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1185.IS S1185 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1185 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Family Medical Leave 2 Modernization Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. LEAVE TO CARE FOR A DOMESTIC PARTNER, SON- 4 IN-LAW, DAUGHTER-IN-LAW, PARENT-IN-LAW, 5 ADULT CHILD, GRANDPARENT, GRANDCHILD, 6 OR SIBLING OF THE EMPLOYEE, OR AN- 7 OTHER RELATED INDIVIDUAL. 8 (a) DEFINITIONS.— 9 (1) INCLUSION OF RELATED INDIVIDUALS.— 10 Section 101 of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 11 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611) is amended by adding at the 12 end the following: 13 ‘‘(20) ANY OTHER INDIVIDUAL RELATED BY 14 BLOOD WHOSE CLOSE ASSOCIATION IS THE EQUIVA- 15 LENT OF A FAMILY RELATIONSHIP.—The term ‘any 16 other individual related by blood whose close associa- 17 tion is the equivalent of a family relationship’, used 18 with respect to an employee, means any person with 19 whom the employee has a significant personal bond 20 that is or is like a family relationship, regardless of 21 biological or legal relationship. 22 ‘‘(21) DOMESTIC PARTNER.—The term ‘domes- 23 tic partner’, used with respect to an employee, 24 means— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:28 May 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1185.IS S1185 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1185 IS ‘‘(A) the person recognized as the domestic 1 partner of the employee under any domestic 2 partnership or civil union law of a State or po- 3 litical subdivision of a State; or 4 ‘‘(B) in the case of an unmarried em- 5 ployee, an unmarried adult person who is in a 6 committed, personal relationship with the em- 7 ployee, is not a domestic partner as described 8 in subparagraph (A) to or in such a relation- 9 ship with any other person, and who is des- 10 ignated to the employer by such employee as 11 that employee’s domestic partner. 12 ‘‘(22) GRANDCHILD.—The term ‘grandchild’ 13 means the son or daughter of an employee’s son or 14 daughter. 15 ‘‘(23) GRANDPARENT.—The term ‘grandparent’ 16 means a parent of a parent of an employee. 17 ‘‘(24) NEPHEW; NIECE.—The terms ‘nephew’ 18 and ‘niece’, used with respect to an employee, mean 19 a son or daughter of the employee’s sibling. 20 ‘‘(25) PARENT-IN-LAW.— The term ‘parent-in- 21 law’ means a parent of the spouse or domestic part- 22 ner of an employee. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:28 May 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1185.IS S1185 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1185 IS ‘‘(26) SIBLING.—The term ‘sibling’ means any 1 person who is a son or daughter of an employee’s 2 parent (other than the employee). 3 ‘‘(27) SON-IN-LAW; DAUGHTER-IN-LAW.—The 4 terms ‘son-in-law’ and ‘daughter-in-law’, used with 5 respect to an employee, mean any person who is a 6 spouse or domestic partner of a son or daughter, as 7 the case may be, of the employee. 8 ‘‘(28) UNCLE; AUNT.—The terms ‘uncle’ and 9 ‘aunt’, used with respect to an employee, mean the 10 son or daughter, as the case may be, of the employ- 11 ee’s grandparent (other than the employee’s par- 12 ent).’’. 13 (2) INCLUSION OF ADULT CHILDREN AND CHIL- 14 DREN OF A DOMESTIC PARTNER.—Section 101(12) 15 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2611(12)) is amended— 16 (A) by inserting ‘‘a child of an individual’s 17 domestic partner,’’ after ‘‘a legal ward,’’; and 18 (B) by striking ‘‘who is—’’ and all that 19 follows and inserting ‘‘and includes an adult 20 child.’’. 21 (b) LEAVE REQUIREMENT.—Section 102 of the Fam- 22 ily and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612) is 23 amended— 24 (1) in subsection (a)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:28 May 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1185.IS S1185 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1185 IS (A) in paragraph (1)— 1 (i) in subparagraph (C), by striking 2 ‘‘spouse, or a son, daughter, or parent, of 3 the employee, if such spouse, son, daugh- 4 ter, or parent’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse or 5 domestic partner, or a son or daughter, 6 son-in-law, daughter-in-law, parent, par- 7 ent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sib- 8 ling, uncle or aunt, or nephew or niece of 9 the employee, or any other individual re- 10 lated by blood whose close association is 11 the equivalent of a family relationship with 12 the employee, if such spouse, domestic 13 partner, son or daughter, son-in-law, 14 daughter-in-law, parent, parent-in-law, 15 grandparent, grandchild, sibling, uncle or 16 aunt, or nephew or niece, or such other in- 17 dividual’’; and 18 (ii) in subparagraph (E), by striking 19 ‘‘spouse, or a son, daughter, or parent of 20 the employee’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse or do- 21 mestic partner, or a son or daughter, son- 22 in-law, daughter-in-law, parent, parent-in- 23 law, grandchild, sibling, uncle or aunt, or 24 nephew or niece of the employee, or any 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:28 May 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1185.IS S1185 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1185 IS other individual related by blood whose 1 close association is the equivalent of a fam- 2 ily relationship with the employee’’; and 3 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘spouse, 4 son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of a cov- 5 ered servicemember’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse or 6 domestic partner, son or daughter, son-in-law, 7 daughter-in-law, parent, parent-in-law, grand- 8 parent, sibling, uncle or aunt, nephew or niece, 9 or next of kin of a covered servicemember, or 10 any other individual related by blood whose 11 close association is the equivalent of a family 12 relationship with the covered servicemember’’; 13 (2) in subsection (e)— 14 (A) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘son, 15 daughter, spouse, parent, or covered service- 16 member of the employee, as appropriate’’ and 17 inserting ‘‘son or daughter, son-in-law, daugh- 18 ter-in-law, spouse or domestic partner, parent, 19 parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, 20 uncle or aunt, nephew or niece, or covered serv- 21 icemember of the employee, or any other indi- 22 vidual related by blood whose close association 23 is the equivalent of a family relationship with 24 the employee, as appropriate’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:28 May 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1185.IS S1185 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1185 IS (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘spouse, 1 or a son, daughter, or parent, of the employee’’ 2 and inserting ‘‘spouse or domestic partner, or a 3 son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, 4 parent, parent-in-law, grandchild, sibling, uncle 5 or aunt, or nephew or niece of the employee, or 6 any other individual related by blood whose 7 close association is the equivalent of a family 8 relationship with the employee, as appro- 9 priate,’’; and 10 (3) in subsection (f)— 11 (A) in paragraph (1)— 12 (i) in the matter preceding subpara- 13 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘, or domestic 14 partners,’’ after ‘‘husband and wife’’; and 15 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 16 ‘‘or parent-in-law’’ after ‘‘parent’’; and 17 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, or 18 those domestic partners,’’ after ‘‘husband and 19 wife’’ each place it appears. 20 (c) CERTIFICATION.—Section 103 of the Family and 21 Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2613) is amend- 22 ed— 23 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘son, daugh- 24 ter, spouse, or parent of the employee, or of the next 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:28 May 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1185.IS S1185 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1185 IS of kin of an individual in the case of leave taken 1 under such paragraph (3), as appropriate’’ and in- 2 serting ‘‘son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in- 3 law, spouse or domestic partner, parent, parent-in- 4 law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, uncle or aunt, 5 or nephew or niece of the employee, or the next of 6 kin of an individual, or any other individual related 7 by blood whose close association is the equivalent of 8 a family relationship with the employee, as appro- 9 priate’’; and 10 (2) in subsection (b)— 11 (A) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking ‘‘son, 12 daughter, spouse, or parent and an estimate of 13 the amount of time that such employee is need- 14 ed to care for the son, daughter, spouse, or par- 15 ent’’ and inserting ‘‘son or daughter, son-in- 16 law, daughter-in-law, spouse or domestic part- 17 ner, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grand- 18 child, sibling, uncle or aunt, or nephew or niece 19 of the employee, or any other individual related 20 by blood whose close association is the equiva- 21 lent of a family relationship with the employee, 22 as appropriate, and an estimate of the amount 23 of time that such employee is needed to care for 24 such son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:28 May 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1185.IS S1185 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1185 IS law, spouse or domestic partner, parent, parent- 1 in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, uncle 2 or aunt, or nephew or niece, or such other indi- 3 vidual’’; and 4 (B) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘son, 5 daughter, parent, or spouse who has a serious 6 health condition, or will assist in their recov- 7 ery,’’ and inserting ‘‘son or daughter, son-in- 8 law, daughter-in-law, spouse or domestic part- 9 ner, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grand- 10 child, sibling, uncle or aunt, or nephew or niece, 11 with a serious health condition, of the employee, 12 or an individual, with a serious health condi- 13 tion, who is any other individual related by 14 blood whose close association is the equivalent 15 of a family relationship with the employee, as 16 appropriate, or will assist in the recovery,’’. 17 (d) EMPLOYMENT AND BENEFITS PROTECTION.— 18 Section 104(c)(3) of the Family and Medical Leave Act 19 of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2614(c)(3)) is amended— 20 (1) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking ‘‘son, 21 daughter, spouse, or parent of the employee, as ap- 22 propriate,’’ and inserting ‘‘son or daughter, son-in- 23 law, daughter-in-law, spouse or domestic partner, 24 parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sib- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:28 May 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1185.IS S1185 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1185 IS ling, uncle or aunt, or nephew or niece of the em- 1 ployee, or any other individual related by blood 2 whose close association is the equivalent of a family 3 relationship with the employee, as appropriate,’’; and 4 (2) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by striking ‘‘son, 5 daughter, spouse, or parent’’ and inserting ‘‘employ- 6 ee’s son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, 7 spouse or domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, 8 grandparent, grandchild, sibling, uncle or aunt, or 9 nephew or niece, or (with relation to the employee) 10 any other individual related by blood whose close as- 11 sociation is the equivalent of a family relationship, 12 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 RE- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:28 May 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1185.IS S1185 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1185 IS LATED BY BLOOD.—Section 6381 of title 5, United 1 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 related by 8 blood whose close association is the equivalent of a 9 family relationship’, used with respect to an em- 10 ployee, means any person with whom the employee 11 has a significant personal bond that is or is like a 12 family relationship, regardless of biological or legal 13 relationship; 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 18:28 May 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1185.IS S1185 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1185 IS 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 a parent of an employee; 7 ‘‘(17) the terms ‘nephew’ and ‘niece’, used with 8 respect to an employee, mean a son or daughter of 9 [Text truncated for display. 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