Family Medical Leave Modernization Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5456 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 17, 2019 Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Reform, and House Administration, for a period to be subsequently 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. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:35 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H5456.IH H5456 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5456 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 such Act is further amended by add- 13 ing at the end the following: 14 ‘‘(20) ANY OTHER INDIVIDUAL RELATED BY 15 BLOOD OR AFFINITY WHOSE CLOSE ASSOCIATION IS 16 THE EQUIVALENT OF A FAMILY RELATIONSHIP.— 17 The term ‘any other individual related by blood or 18 affinity whose close association is the equivalent of 19 a family relationship’, used with respect to an em- 20 ployee, means any person with whom the employee 21 has a significant personal bond that is or is like a 22 family relationship, regardless of biological or legal 23 relationship. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:35 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5456.IH H5456 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5456 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 21:35 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5456.IH H5456 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5456 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 21:35 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5456.IH H5456 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5456 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 or affinity whose close asso- 15 ciation is the equivalent of a family rela- 16 tionship with the employee, if such spouse, 17 domestic partner, son or daughter, son-in- 18 law, 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 21:35 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5456.IH H5456 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5456 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 or affinity 5 whose close association is the equivalent of 6 a family relationship with the employee’’; 7 and 8 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘spouse, 9 son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of a cov- 10 ered servicemember’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse or 11 domestic partner, son or daughter, son-in-law, 12 daughter-in-law, parent, parent-in-law, grand- 13 parent, sibling, uncle or aunt, nephew or niece, 14 or next of kin of a covered servicemember, or 15 any other individual related by blood or affinity 16 whose close association is the equivalent of a 17 family relationship with the covered service- 18 member’’; 19 (2) in subsection (e)— 20 (A) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘son, 21 daughter, spouse, parent, or covered service- 22 member of the employee, as appropriate’’ and 23 inserting ‘‘son or daughter, son-in-law, daugh- 24 ter-in-law, spouse or domestic partner, parent, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:35 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5456.IH H5456 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5456 IH parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, 1 uncle or aunt, nephew or niece, or covered serv- 2 icemember of the employee, or any other indi- 3 vidual related by blood or affinity whose close 4 association is the equivalent of a family rela- 5 tionship with the employee, as appropriate’’; 6 and 7 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘spouse, 8 or a son, daughter, or parent, of the employee’’ 9 and inserting ‘‘spouse or domestic partner, or a 10 son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, 11 parent, parent-in-law, grandchild, sibling, uncle 12 or aunt, or nephew or niece of the employee, or 13 any other individual related by blood or affinity 14 whose close association is the equivalent of a 15 family relationship with the employee, as appro- 16 priate,’’; and 17 (3) in subsection (f)— 18 (A) in paragraph (1)— 19 (i) in the matter preceding subpara- 20 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘, or domestic 21 partners,’’ after ‘‘husband and wife’’; and 22 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 23 ‘‘or parent-in-law’’ after ‘‘parent’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:35 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5456.IH H5456 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5456 IH (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, or 1 those domestic partners,’’ after ‘‘husband and 2 wife’’ each place it appears. 3 (c) CERTIFICATION.—Section 103 of the Family and 4 Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2613) is amend- 5 ed— 6 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘son, daugh- 7 ter, spouse, or parent of the employee, or of the next 8 of kin of an individual in the case of leave taken 9 under such paragraph (3), as appropriate’’ and in- 10 serting ‘‘son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in- 11 law, spouse or domestic partner, parent, parent-in- 12 law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, uncle or aunt, 13 or nephew or niece of the employee, or the next of 14 kin of an individual, or any other individual related 15 by blood or affinity whose close association is the 16 equivalent of a family relationship with the em- 17 ployee, as appropriate’’; and 18 (2) in subsection (b)— 19 (A) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking ‘‘son, 20 daughter, spouse, or parent and an estimate of 21 the amount of time that such employee is need- 22 ed to care for the son, daughter, spouse, or par- 23 ent’’ and inserting ‘‘son or daughter, son-in- 24 law, daughter-in-law, spouse or domestic part- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:35 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5456.IH H5456 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 5456 IH ner, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grand- 1 child, sibling, uncle or aunt, or nephew or niece 2 of the employee, or any other individual related 3 by blood or affinity whose close association is 4 the equivalent of a family relationship with the 5 employee, as appropriate, and an estimate of 6 the amount of time that such employee is need- 7 ed to care for such son or daughter, son-in-law, 8 daughter-in-law, spouse or domestic partner, 9 parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, 10 sibling, uncle or aunt, or nephew or niece, or 11 such other individual’’; and 12 (B) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘son, 13 daughter, parent, or spouse who has a serious 14 health condition, or will assist in their recov- 15 ery,’’ 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 with a serious health condition, of the employee, 20 or an individual, with a serious health condi- 21 tion, who is any other individual related by 22 blood or affinity whose close association is the 23 equivalent of a family relationship with the em- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:35 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5456.IH H5456 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 5456 IH ployee, as appropriate, or will assist in the re- 1 covery,’’. 2 (d) EMPLOYMENT AND BENEFITS PROTECTION.— 3 Section 104(c)(3) of the Family and Medical Leave Act 4 of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2614(c)(3)) is amended— 5 (1) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking ‘‘son, 6 daughter, spouse, or parent of the employee, as ap- 7 propriate,’’ and inserting ‘‘son or daughter, son-in- 8 law, daughter-in-law, spouse or domestic partner, 9 parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sib- 10 ling, uncle or aunt, or nephew or niece of the em- 11 ployee, or any other individual related by blood or 12 affinity whose close association is the equivalent of 13 a family relationship with the employee, as appro- 14 priate,’’; and 15 (2) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by striking ‘‘son, 16 daughter, spouse, or parent’’ and inserting ‘‘employ- 17 ee’s son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, 18 spouse or domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, 19 grandparent, grandchild, sibling, uncle or aunt, or 20 nephew or niece, or (with relation to the employee) 21 any other individual related by blood or affinity 22 whose close association is the equivalent of a family 23 relationship, as appropriate,’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:35 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5456.IH H5456 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 5456 IH SEC. 3. LEAVE TO CARE FOR A DOMESTIC PARTNER, SON- 1 IN-LAW, DAUGHTER-IN-LAW, PARENT-IN-LAW, 2 ADULT CHILD, GRANDPARENT, GRANDCHILD, 3 OR SIBLING OF THE EMPLOYEE, OR AN- 4 OTHER RELATED INDIVIDUAL FOR FEDERAL 5 EMPLOYEES. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.— 7 (1) INCLUSION OF A DOMESTIC PARTNER, SON- 8 IN-LAW, DAUGHTER-IN-LAW, PARENT-IN-LAW, ADULT 9 CHILD, GRANDPARENT, GRANDCHILD, OR SIBLING 10 OF THE EMPLOYEE, OR ANOTHER INDIVIDUAL RE- 11 LATED BY BLOOD OR AFFINITY.—Section 6381 of 12 title 5, United States Code, is amended— 13 (A) in paragraph (11) by striking ‘‘; and’’ 14 and inserting a semicolon; 15 (B) in paragraph (12), by striking the pe- 16 riod and inserting a semicolon; and 17 (C) by adding at the end the following: 18 ‘‘(13) the term ‘any other individual related by 19 blood or affinity whose close association is the equiv- 20 alent of a family relationship’, used with respect to 21 an employee, means any person with whom the em- 22 ployee has a significant personal bond that is or is 23 like a family relationship, regardless of biological or 24 legal relationship; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:35 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5456.IH H5456 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 5456 IH ‘‘(14) the term ‘domestic partner’, used with re- 1 spect to an employee, means— 2 ‘‘(A) the person recognized as the domestic 3 partner of the employee under any domestic 4 partnership or civil union law of a State or po- 5 litical subdivision of a State; or 6 ‘‘(B) in the case of an unmarried em- 7 ployee, an unmarried adult person who is in a 8 committed, personal relationship with the em- 9 ployee, is not a domestic partner as described 10 in subparagraph (A) or in such a relationship 11 with any other person, and who is designated to 12 the employing agency by such [Text truncated for display. 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