Sarah Grace-Farley-Kluger Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 559 To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to provide leave because of the death of a son or daughter. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 26, 2019 Mr. TESTER (for himself, Ms. MCSALLY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. COONS, and Mr. BOOKER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to provide leave because of the death of a son or daughter. 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 ‘‘Parental Bereavement 4 Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘Sarah Grace-Farley-Kluger Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FAMILY LEAVE BECAUSE OF THE DEATH OF A SON 6 OR DAUGHTER. 7 (a) FAMILY LEAVE.— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Mar 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S559.IS S559 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 559 IS (1) ENTITLEMENT TO LEAVE.—Section 1 102(a)(1) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 2 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612(a)(1)) is amended by adding 3 at the end the following new subparagraph: 4 ‘‘(F) Because of the death of a son or 5 daughter.’’. 6 (2) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO LEAVE.— 7 (A) SCHEDULE.—Section 102(b)(1) of 8 such Act (29 U.S.C. 2612(b)(1)) is amended by 9 inserting after the third sentence the following 10 new sentence: ‘‘Leave under subsection 11 (a)(1)(F) shall not be taken by an employee 12 intermittently or on a reduced leave schedule 13 unless the employee and the employer of the 14 employee agree otherwise.’’. 15 (B) SUBSTITUTION OF PAID LEAVE.—Sec- 16 tion 102(d)(2)(B) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 17 2612(d)(2)(B)) is amended, in the first sen- 18 tence, by striking ‘‘(C) or (D)’’ and inserting 19 ‘‘(C), (D), or (F)’’. 20 (C) NOTICE.—Section 102(e) of such Act 21 (29 U.S.C. 2612(e)) is amended by adding at 22 the end the following new paragraph: 23 ‘‘(4) NOTICE FOR LEAVE DUE TO DEATH OF A 24 SON OR DAUGHTER.—In any case in which the ne- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Mar 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S559.IS S559 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 559 IS cessity for leave under subsection (a)(1)(F) is fore- 1 seeable, the employee shall provide such notice to the 2 employer as is reasonable and practicable.’’. 3 (D) SPOUSES EMPLOYED BY SAME EM- 4 PLOYER.—Section 102(f)(1)(A) of such Act (29 5 U.S.C. 2612(f)(1)(A)) is amended by striking 6 ‘‘subparagraph (A) or (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub- 7 paragraph (A), (B), or (F)’’. 8 (E) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.— 9 Section 103 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2613) is 10 amended by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(g) CERTIFICATION RELATED TO THE DEATH OF 12 A SON OR DAUGHTER.—An employer may require that a 13 request for leave under section 102(a)(1)(F) be supported 14 by a certification issued at such time and in such manner 15 as the Secretary may by regulation prescribe. If the Sec- 16 retary issues a regulation requiring such certification, the 17 employee shall provide, in a timely manner, a copy of such 18 certification to the employer.’’. 19 (F) FAILURE TO RETURN FROM LEAVE.— 20 Section 104(c) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2614(c)) 21 is amended— 22 (i) in paragraph (2)(B)(i), by insert- 23 ing before the semicolon the following: ‘‘, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Mar 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S559.IS S559 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 559 IS or a death that entitles the employee to 1 leave under section 102(a)(1)(F)’’; and 2 (ii) in paragraph (3)(A)— 3 (I) in the matter preceding clause 4 (i), by inserting ‘‘, or the death,’’ be- 5 fore ‘‘described’’; 6 (II) in clause (ii), by striking 7 ‘‘or’’ at the end; 8 (III) by redesignating clause (iii) 9 as clause (iv); and 10 (IV) by inserting after clause (ii) 11 the following: 12 ‘‘(iii) a certification that meets such 13 requirements as the Secretary may by reg- 14 ulation prescribe, in the case of an em- 15 ployee unable to return to work because of 16 a death specified in section 102(a)(1)(F); 17 or’’. 18 (G) EMPLOYEES OF LOCAL EDUCATIONAL 19 AGENCIES.—Section 108 of such Act (29 20 U.S.C. 2618) is amended— 21 (i) in subsection (c)— 22 (I) in paragraph (1)— 23 (aa) in the matter preceding 24 subparagraph (A), by inserting 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Mar 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S559.IS S559 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 559 IS after ‘‘medical treatment’’ the 1 following: ‘‘, or under section 2 102(a)(1)(F) that is foresee- 3 able,’’; and 4 (bb) in subparagraph (A), 5 by inserting after ‘‘to exceed’’ the 6 following: ‘‘(except in the case of 7 leave under section 8 102(a)(1)(F))’’; and 9 (II) in paragraph (2), by striking 10 ‘‘section 102(e)(2)’’ and inserting 11 ‘‘paragraphs (2) and (4) of section 12 102(e), as applicable’’; and 13 (ii) in subsection (d), in paragraphs 14 (2) and (3), by striking ‘‘or (C)’’ each 15 place it appears and inserting ‘‘(C), or 16 (F)’’. 17 (b) FAMILY LEAVE FOR CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOY- 18 EES.— 19 (1) ENTITLEMENT TO LEAVE.—Section 20 6382(a)(1) of title 5, United States Code, is amend- 21 ed by adding at the end the following: 22 ‘‘(F) Because of the death of a son or daugh- 23 ter.’’. 24 (2) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO LEAVE.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Mar 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S559.IS S559 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 559 IS (A) SCHEDULE.—Section 6382(b)(1) of 1 such title is amended by inserting after the 2 third sentence the following new sentence: 3 ‘‘Leave under subsection (a)(1)(F) shall not be 4 taken by an employee intermittently or on a re- 5 duced leave schedule unless the employee and 6 the employing agency of the employee agree 7 otherwise.’’. 8 (B) SUBSTITUTION OF PAID LEAVE.—Sec- 9 tion 6382(d) of such title is amended, in the 10 first sentence, by striking ‘‘or (E)’’ and insert- 11 ing ‘‘(E), or (F)’’. 12 (C) NOTICE.—Section 6382(e) of such title 13 is amended by adding at the end the following 14 new paragraph: 15 ‘‘(4) In any case in which the necessity for leave 16 under subsection (a)(1)(F) is foreseeable, the employee 17 shall provide such notice to the employing agency as is 18 reasonable and practicable.’’. 19 (D) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.— 20 Section 6383 of such title is amended by adding 21 at the end the following: 22 ‘‘(g) An employing agency may require that a request 23 for leave under section 6382(a)(1)(F) be supported by a 24 certification issued at such time and in such manner as 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Mar 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S559.IS S559 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 559 IS the Office of Personnel Management may by regulation 1 prescribe. If the Office issues a regulation requiring such 2 certification, the employee shall provide, in a timely man- 3 ner, a copy of such certification to the employer.’’. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Mar 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S559.IS S559 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS