A bill to establish family and medical leave banks to provide paid leave for employees of the Department of Defense, and for other purposes.

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1131 To establish family and medical leave banks to provide paid leave for employees of the Department of Defense, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 10, 2019 Mr. MERKLEY (for himself and Mr. ROUNDS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Secu- rity and Governmental Affairs A BILL To establish family and medical leave banks to provide paid leave for employees of the Department of Defense, 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. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FAMILY AND MED- 3 ICAL LEAVE BANKS. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter V of chapter 63 of 5 title 5, United States Code, is amended— 6 (1) by redesignating section 6387 as section 7 6388; and 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1131.IS S1131 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1131 IS (2) by inserting after section 6386 the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘§ 6387. Department of Defense family and medical 3 leave banks 4 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 5 ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered DOD employee’ means 6 an individual described in section 6381(1)(A) who is 7 employed by the Department, without regard to 8 whether the individual meets the requirements of 9 section 6381(1)(B); 10 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Department’ means the Depart- 11 ment of Defense; 12 ‘‘(3) the term ‘designated unit’ means any 13 agency, component, or other administrative unit of 14 the Department designated by the Secretary under 15 subsection (b)(1); 16 ‘‘(4) the term ‘family and medical leave bank’ 17 means a family and medical leave bank established 18 under subsection (b)(2); 19 ‘‘(5) the term ‘leave recipient’ means a covered 20 DOD employee whose application under subsection 21 (e)(1) to receive leave from a family and medical 22 leave bank is approved; and 23 ‘‘(6) the term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary 24 of Defense. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1131.IS S1131 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1131 IS ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF FAMILY AND MEDICAL 1 LEAVE BANKS.—The Secretary, in consultation with the 2 Director of the Office of Personnel Management, shall— 3 ‘‘(1) designate the agencies, components, or 4 other administrative units of the Department for 5 which it is appropriate to have a separate family and 6 medical leave bank; and 7 ‘‘(2) establish a family and medical leave bank 8 for each designated unit. 9 ‘‘(c) ESTABLISHMENT OF FAMILY AND MEDICAL 10 LEAVE BANK BOARDS.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For each family and med- 12 ical leave bank established by the Secretary, the Sec- 13 retary shall establish a Family and Medical Leave 14 Bank Board consisting of 3 members, at least one 15 of whom shall represent a labor organization or em- 16 ployee group, to administer the family and medical 17 leave bank, in consultation with the Office of Per- 18 sonnel Management. 19 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—Each Family and Medical Leave 20 Bank Board, in conjunction with the human re- 21 source office for the agency, component, or adminis- 22 trative unit for which the applicable family and med- 23 ical leave bank was established, shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1131.IS S1131 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1131 IS ‘‘(A) review and determine whether to ap- 1 prove applications to the family and medical 2 leave bank under subsection (e)(1); 3 ‘‘(B) monitor each case of a leave recipi- 4 ent; 5 ‘‘(C) monitor the amount of leave in the 6 family and medical leave bank and the number 7 of applications for use of leave from the family 8 and medical leave bank; and 9 ‘‘(D) maintain an adequate amount of 10 leave in the family and medical leave bank to 11 the greatest extent practicable. 12 ‘‘(3) QUALIFYING FAMILY AND MEDICAL 13 EVENTS.—To the greatest extent practicable, each 14 Family and Medical Leave Bank Board shall use the 15 certification forms and standards established for 16 purposes of section 6382 in determining whether, for 17 purposes of this section, a circumstance described in 18 section 6382(a)(1) exists. 19 ‘‘(d) CREDITING OF LEAVE.— 20 ‘‘(1) FORFEITED LEAVE.—Any annual leave 21 lost by a covered DOD employee by operation of sec- 22 tion 6304 shall be credited to the family and medical 23 leave bank of the designated unit in which the cov- 24 ered DOD employee is employed. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1131.IS S1131 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1131 IS ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL ANNUAL LEAVE CONTRIBU- 1 TIONS.—This section shall not supersede or modify 2 the ability of a covered DOD employee to donate 3 earned annual leave to a qualified recipient under 4 regulations of the Department. 5 ‘‘(3) CONTRIBUTIONS OF USE OR LOSE 6 LEAVE.— 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A covered DOD em- 8 ployee who is projected to have annual leave 9 that otherwise would be subject to forfeiture at 10 the end of the leave year under section 6304 11 may submit an application in writing requesting 12 that a specified number of hours (not to exceed 13 the number of hours projected to be subject to 14 forfeiture) be transferred from the annual leave 15 account of the covered DOD employee to the 16 family and medical leave bank for the des- 17 ignated unit in which the covered DOD em- 18 ployee is employed. 19 ‘‘(B) APPROVAL.—If a Family and Medical 20 Leave Bank Board approves an application by 21 a covered DOD employee under subparagraph 22 (A), the Secretary shall transfer to the family 23 and medical leave bank of the designated unit 24 in which the covered DOD employee is em- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1131.IS S1131 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1131 IS ployed the amount of leave requested to be 1 transferred. 2 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION FOR LEAVE.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered DOD employee 4 who is or anticipates being absent from regularly 5 scheduled duty because of a circumstance described 6 in section 6382(a)(1) (without regard to whether the 7 covered DOD employee is entitled to leave under 8 section 6382(a)(1)) may submit an application to re- 9 ceive leave from the family and medical leave bank 10 of the designated unit in which the covered DOD 11 employee is employed, which shall contain such in- 12 formation as the Secretary, in consultation with the 13 Director of the Office of Personnel Management, 14 shall by regulation prescribe. 15 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION.—A Family and Medical 16 Leave Bank Board may— 17 ‘‘(A) approve an application submitted 18 under paragraph (1); and 19 ‘‘(B) specify the amount of leave that shall 20 be transferred to a covered DOD employee 21 whose application is approved. 22 ‘‘(3) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF LEAVE.— 23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A Family and Medical 24 Leave Bank Board may not specify an amount 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1131.IS S1131 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1131 IS of leave to be transferred to a covered DOD 1 employee that is more than the amount of leave 2 described in subparagraph (B). 3 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT.—The amount described in 4 this subparagraph is— 5 ‘‘(i) with respect to a full-time covered 6 DOD employee, 12 weeks; and 7 ‘‘(ii) with respect to a part-time cov- 8 ered DOD employee, the amount equal to 9 the product obtained by multiplying— 10 ‘‘(I) 12 weeks; by 11 ‘‘(II) the quotient obtained by di- 12 viding— 13 ‘‘(aa) the number of hours 14 in the regularly scheduled work- 15 week of the part-time covered 16 DOD employee; by 17 ‘‘(bb) the number of hours 18 in the regularly scheduled work- 19 week of a covered DOD employee 20 serving in a comparable position 21 on a full-time basis. 22 ‘‘(4) TRANSFER.—The Secretary shall transfer 23 to a covered DOD employee whose application is ap- 24 proved under paragraph (2)(A) the number of hours 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1131.IS S1131 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1131 IS of leave specified under paragraph (2)(B) from the 1 family and medical leave bank for the designated 2 unit in which the covered DOD employee is em- 3 ployed. 4 ‘‘(f) USE OF LEAVE.— 5 ‘‘(1) COORDINATION WITH EXISTING FML.—A 6 leave recipient who is entitled to leave under section 7 6382(a)(1) shall use any leave transferred to the 8 leave recipient from a family and medical leave bank 9 in accordance with section 6382(d)(2). 10 ‘‘(2) FAILURE TO USE LEAVE.— 11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any leave transferred 12 to a leave recipient from a family and medical 13 leave bank that is not used before the end of 14 the 12-month period beginning on the date de- 15 scribed in subparagraph (B)— 16 ‘‘(i) shall be forfeited by the leave re- 17 cipient; and 18 ‘‘(ii) shall be credited to the family 19 and medical leave bank from which the 20 leave was transferred. 21 ‘‘(B) START OF PERIOD FOR USE.—The 22 date described in this subparagraph is the later 23 of— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1131.IS S1131 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1131 IS ‘‘(i) the date on which the cir- 1 cumstance described in section 6382(a)(1) 2 arises; or 3 ‘‘(ii) the date on which leave is trans- 4 ferred to the covered DOD employee under 5 subsection (e)(4).’’. 6 (b) USE OF FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE.—Section 7 6382(d) of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 8 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘An employee may 9 elect’’ the first place it appears; and 10 (2) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(2)(A) In this paragraph, the term ‘covered DOD 12 employee’ has the meaning given that term in section 13 6387. 14 ‘‘(B) A covered DOD employee entitled to leave under 15 subsection (a)(1) to whom leave is transferred from a fam- 16 ily and medical leave bank under section 6387— 17 ‘‘(i) shall substitute for any leave without pay 18 under subsection (a)(1) the amount of leave trans- 19 ferred to the employee from the family and medical 20 leave bank; and 21 ‘‘(ii) may substitute for any leave without pay 22 under subsection (a)(1) any annual or sick leave ac- 23 crued or accumulated by such employee under sub- 24 chapter I. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1131.IS S1131 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1131 IS ‘‘(C) A covered DOD employee to whom leave is 1 transferred from a family and medical leave bank shall 2 first use all of the transferred leave before using leave de- 3 scribed in subparagraph (B)(ii). 4 ‘‘(D) The Director of the Office of Personnel Man- 5 agement shall prescribe any regulations necessary to carry 6 out this paragraph.’’. 7 (c) OPM AUTHORITY.—If the Director of the Office 8 of Personnel Management determines expanding the fam- 9 ily and medical leave bank program Governmentwide 10 would be appropriate, the Director may prescribe regula- 11 tions granting Executive agencies (as defined in section 12 105 of title 5, United States Code) the authority to estab- 13 lish family and medical leave banks, in the same manner 14 as provided under the amendments made by subsections 15 (a) and (b), to the maximum extent practicable. 16 (d) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 17 The table of sections for chapter 63 of title 5, United 18 States Code, is amended by striking the item relating to 19 section 6387 and inserting the following: 20 ‘‘6387. Department of Defense family and medical leave banks. ‘‘6388. Regulations.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1131.IS S1131 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS