Family Medical Leave Modernization Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2589 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, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 15, 2021 Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York (for herself, Ms. MENG, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. EVANS, Mr. CARSON, Mr. GRIJALVA, and Mr. RASKIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Reform, and House Administration, for a period to be sub- sequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 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, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2589.IH H2589 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2589 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 ‘‘Family Medical Leave 4 Modernization 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 RELATED BY 16 BLOOD WHOSE CLOSE ASSOCIATION IS THE EQUIVA- 17 LENT OF A FAMILY RELATIONSHIP.—The term ‘any 18 other individual related by blood whose close associa- 19 tion is the equivalent of a family relationship’, used 20 with respect to an employee, means any person with 21 whom the employee has a significant personal bond 22 that is or is like a family relationship, regardless of 23 biological or legal relationship. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2589.IH H2589 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2589 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 01:16 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2589.IH H2589 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2589 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 01:16 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2589.IH H2589 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2589 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, 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 re- 14 lated by blood whose close association is 15 the equivalent of a family relationship with 16 the employee, if such spouse, domestic 17 partner, son or daughter, son-in-law, 18 daughter-in-law, parent, parent-in-law, 19 grandparent, grandchild, sibling, uncle or 20 aunt, or nephew or niece, or such other in- 21 dividual’’; and 22 (ii) in subparagraph (E), by striking 23 ‘‘spouse, or a son, daughter, or parent of 24 the employee’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse or do- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2589.IH H2589 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2589 IH mestic partner, or a son or daughter, son- 1 in-law, daughter-in-law, parent, parent-in- 2 law, grandchild, sibling, uncle or aunt, or 3 nephew or niece of the employee, or any 4 other individual related by blood whose 5 close association is the equivalent of a fam- 6 ily relationship with the employee’’; and 7 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘spouse, 8 son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of a cov- 9 ered servicemember’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse or 10 domestic partner, son or daughter, son-in-law, 11 daughter-in-law, parent, parent-in-law, grand- 12 parent, sibling, uncle or aunt, nephew or niece, 13 or next of kin of a covered servicemember, or 14 any other individual related by blood whose 15 close association is the equivalent of a family 16 relationship with the covered servicemember’’; 17 (2) in subsection (e)— 18 (A) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘son, 19 daughter, spouse, parent, or covered service- 20 member of the employee, as appropriate’’ and 21 inserting ‘‘son or daughter, son-in-law, daugh- 22 ter-in-law, spouse or domestic partner, parent, 23 parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, 24 uncle or aunt, nephew or niece, or covered serv- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2589.IH H2589 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2589 IH icemember of the employee, or any other indi- 1 vidual related by blood whose close association 2 is the equivalent of a family relationship with 3 the employee, as appropriate’’; and 4 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘spouse, 5 or a son, daughter, or parent, of the employee’’ 6 and inserting ‘‘spouse or domestic partner, or a 7 son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, 8 parent, parent-in-law, grandchild, sibling, uncle 9 or aunt, or nephew or niece of the employee, or 10 any other individual related by blood whose 11 close association is the equivalent of a family 12 relationship with the employee, as appro- 13 priate,’’; and 14 (3) in subsection (f)— 15 (A) in paragraph (1)— 16 (i) in the matter preceding subpara- 17 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘, or domestic 18 partners,’’ after ‘‘husband and wife’’; and 19 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 20 ‘‘or parent-in-law’’ after ‘‘parent’’; and 21 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, or 22 those domestic partners,’’ after ‘‘husband and 23 wife’’ each place it appears. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2589.IH H2589 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2589 IH (c) CERTIFICATION.—Section 103 of the Family and 1 Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2613) is amend- 2 ed— 3 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘son, daugh- 4 ter, spouse, or parent of the employee, or of the next 5 of kin of an individual in the case of leave taken 6 under such paragraph (3), as appropriate’’ and in- 7 serting ‘‘son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in- 8 law, spouse or domestic partner, parent, parent-in- 9 law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, uncle or aunt, 10 or nephew or niece of the employee, or the next of 11 kin of an individual, or any other individual related 12 by blood whose close association is the equivalent of 13 a family relationship with the employee, as appro- 14 priate’’; and 15 (2) in subsection (b)— 16 (A) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking ‘‘son, 17 daughter, spouse, or parent and an estimate of 18 the amount of time that such employee is need- 19 ed to care for the son, daughter, spouse, or par- 20 ent’’ and inserting ‘‘son or daughter, son-in- 21 law, daughter-in-law, spouse or domestic part- 22 ner, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grand- 23 child, sibling, uncle or aunt, or nephew or niece 24 of the employee, or any other individual related 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2589.IH H2589 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2589 IH by blood whose close association is the equiva- 1 lent of a family relationship with the employee, 2 as appropriate, and an estimate of the amount 3 of time that such employee is needed to care for 4 such son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in- 5 law, spouse or domestic partner, parent, parent- 6 in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, uncle 7 or aunt, or nephew or niece, or such other indi- 8 vidual’’; and 9 (B) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘son, 10 daughter, parent, or spouse who has a serious 11 health condition, or will assist in their recov- 12 ery,’’ and inserting ‘‘son or daughter, son-in- 13 law, daughter-in-law, spouse or domestic part- 14 ner, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grand- 15 child, sibling, uncle or aunt, or nephew or niece, 16 with a serious health condition, of the employee, 17 or an individual, with a serious health condi- 18 tion, who is any other individual related by 19 blood whose close association is the equivalent 20 of a family relationship with the employee, as 21 appropriate, or will assist in the recovery,’’. 22 (d) EMPLOYMENT AND BENEFITS PROTECTION.— 23 Section 104(c)(3) of the Family and Medical Leave Act 24 of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2614(c)(3)) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2589.IH H2589 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2589 IH (1) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking ‘‘son, 1 daughter, spouse, or parent of the employee, as ap- 2 propriate,’’ and inserting ‘‘son or daughter, son-in- 3 law, daughter-in-law, spouse or domestic partner, 4 parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sib- 5 ling, uncle or aunt, or nephew or niece of the em- 6 ployee, or any other individual related by blood 7 whose close association is the equivalent of a family 8 relationship with the employee, as appropriate,’’; and 9 (2) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by striking ‘‘son, 10 daughter, spouse, or parent’’ and inserting ‘‘employ- 11 ee’s son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, 12 spouse or domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, 13 grandparent, grandchild, sibling, uncle or aunt, or 14 nephew or niece, or (with relation to the employee) 15 any other individual related by blood whose close as- 16 sociation is the equivalent of a family relationship, 17 as appropriate,’’. 18 SEC. 3. LEAVE TO CARE FOR A DOMESTIC PARTNER, SON- 19 IN-LAW, DAUGHTER-IN-LAW, PARENT-IN-LAW, 20 ADULT CHILD, GRANDPARENT, GRANDCHILD, 21 OR SIBLING OF THE EMPLOYEE, OR AN- 22 OTHER RELATED INDIVIDUAL FOR FEDERAL 23 EMPLOYEES. 24 (a) DEFINITIONS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2589.IH H2589 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2589 IH (1) INCLUSION OF A DOMESTIC PARTNER, SON- 1 IN-LAW, DAUGHTER-IN-LAW, PARENT-IN-LAW, ADULT 2 CHILD, GRANDPARENT, GRANDCHILD, OR SIBLING 3 OF THE EMPLOYEE, OR ANOTHER INDIVIDUAL RE- 4 LATED BY BLOOD.—Section 6381 of title 5, United 5 States Code, is amended— 6 (A) in paragraph (11) by striking ‘‘; and’’ 7 and inserting a semicolon; 8 (B) in paragraph (12), by striking the pe- 9 riod and inserting a semicolon; and 10 (C) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(13) the term ‘any other individual related by 12 blood whose close association is the equivalent of a 13 family relationship’, used with respect to an em- 14 ployee, means any person with whom the employee 15 has a significant personal bond that is or is like a 16 family relationship, regardless of biological or legal 17 relationship; 18 ‘‘(14) the term ‘domestic partner’, used with re- 19 spect to an employee, means— 20 ‘‘(A) the person recognized as the domestic 21 partner of the employee under any domestic 22 partnership or civil union law of a State or po- 23 litical subdivision of a State; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2589.IH H2589 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2589 IH ‘‘(B) in the case of an unmarried em- 1 ployee, an unmarried adult person who is in a 2 committed, personal relationship with the em- 3 ployee, is not a domestic partner as described 4 in subparagraph (A) or in such a relationship 5 with any other person, and who is designated to 6 the employing agency by such employee as that [Text truncated for display. 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