Family Leave for Parental Involvement in Education Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5838 To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and title 5, United States Code, to allow employees to take, as additional leave, parental involvement leave to participate in or attend their children’s and grand- children’s educational and extracurricular activities, and for other pur- poses. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 10, 2020 Ms. WILSON of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Commit- tees on Oversight and Reform, and House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation 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 allow employees to take, as additional leave, parental involvement leave to partici- pate in or attend their children’s and grandchildren’s educational and extracurricular activities, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Feb 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5838.IH H5838 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5838 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Family Leave for Pa- 2 rental Involvement in Education Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. ENTITLEMENT TO ADDITIONAL LEAVE UNDER THE 4 FMLA FOR PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT AND 5 FAMILY WELLNESS. 6 (a) LEAVE REQUIREMENT.—Section 102(a) of the 7 Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 8 2612(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following 9 new paragraph: 10 ‘‘(6) ENTITLEMENT TO ADDITIONAL LEAVE FOR 11 PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 13 graph (B) and section 103(g), an eligible em- 14 ployee shall be entitled to leave under this para- 15 graph to participate in or attend a school con- 16 ference or an activity that is sponsored by a 17 school or community organization and relates to 18 a program of the school or organization that is 19 attended by a son or daughter or a grandchild 20 of the employee. 21 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS.— 22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An eligible em- 23 ployee is entitled to— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Feb 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5838.IH H5838 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5838 IH ‘‘(I) not to exceed 8 hours of 1 leave under this paragraph during any 2 30-day period; and 3 ‘‘(II) not to exceed 48 hours of 4 leave under this paragraph during any 5 12-month period. 6 ‘‘(ii) COORDINATION RULE.—Leave 7 under this paragraph shall be in addition 8 to any leave provided under any other 9 paragraph of this subsection. 10 ‘‘(C) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this para- 11 graph: 12 ‘‘(i) SCHOOL.—The term ‘school’ 13 means an elementary school or secondary 14 school (as such terms are defined in sec- 15 tion 9101 of the Elementary and Sec- 16 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 17 7801)), a Head Start program assisted 18 under the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 19 et seq.), or a child care facility. 20 ‘‘(ii) COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION.— 21 The term ‘community organization’ means 22 a private nonprofit organization that is 23 representative of a community or a signifi- 24 cant segment of a community and provides 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Feb 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5838.IH H5838 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5838 IH activities for individuals described in sub- 1 paragraph (A) or (B) of section 101(12), 2 such as a scouting or sports organiza- 3 tion.’’. 4 (b) SCHEDULE.—Section 102(b)(1) of such Act (29 5 U.S.C. 2612(b)(1)) is amended by inserting after the third 6 sentence the following new sentence: ‘‘Leave under sub- 7 section (a)(6) may be taken intermittently or on a reduced 8 leave schedule.’’. 9 (c) SUBSTITUTION OF PAID LEAVE.—Section 10 102(d)(2) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2612(d)(2)) is amended 11 by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: 12 ‘‘(C) PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT LEAVE.— 13 An eligible employee may elect, or an employer 14 may require the employee, to substitute any of 15 the accrued paid vacation leave, personal leave, 16 or family leave of the employee for any leave 17 under subsection (a)(6). In addition, an eligible 18 employee may elect, or an employer may require 19 the employee, to substitute any of the accrued 20 paid medical or sick leave of the employee for 21 leave provided under clause (ii) of subsection 22 (a)(6)(A) for any part of the leave under such 23 clause, except that nothing in this title shall re- 24 quire an employer to provide paid sick leave or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Feb 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5838.IH H5838 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5838 IH paid medical leave in any situation in which 1 such employer would not normally provide any 2 such paid leave. If the employee elects or the 3 employer requires the substitution of accrued 4 paid leave for leave provided under subsection 5 (a)(6)(A), the employer shall not restrict or 6 limit this substitution or impose any additional 7 terms and conditions on such leave that are 8 more stringent on the employee than the terms 9 and conditions set forth in this Act.’’. 10 (d) NOTICE.—Section 102(e) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 11 2612(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following 12 new paragraph: 13 ‘‘(4) NOTICE RELATING TO PARENTAL IN- 14 VOLVEMENT.—In any case in which an employee re- 15 quests leave under paragraph (6) of subsection (a), 16 the employee shall provide the employer with not 17 less than 7 days’ notice or as much notice as is prac- 18 ticable before the date the leave is to be taken, of 19 the employee’s intention to take leave under such 20 paragraph.’’. 21 (e) CERTIFICATION.—Section 103 of such Act (29 22 U.S.C. 2613) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 23 lowing new subsection: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Feb 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5838.IH H5838 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5838 IH ‘‘(g) CERTIFICATION RELATED TO PARENTAL IN- 1 VOLVEMENT.—An employer may require that a request for 2 leave under section 102(a)(6) be supported by a certifi- 3 cation issued at such time and in such manner as the Sec- 4 retary may by regulation prescribe.’’. 5 (f) DEFINITION OF GRANDCHILD.—Section 101 of 6 the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 7 2611) is amended by adding at the end the following new 8 paragraph: 9 ‘‘(20) GRANDCHILD.—The term ‘grandchild’ 10 means a son or daughter of an employee’s son or 11 daughter.’’. 12 SEC. 3. ENTITLEMENT OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES TO LEAVE 13 FOR PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT. 14 (a) LEAVE REQUIREMENT.—Section 6382(a) of title 15 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 16 the following new paragraph: 17 ‘‘(5)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B)(i) and 18 section 6383(f), an employee shall be entitled to 19 leave under this paragraph to participate in or at- 20 tend a school conference or an activity that is spon- 21 sored by a school or community organization and re- 22 lates to a program of the school or organization that 23 is attended by a son or daughter or a grandchild of 24 the employee. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Feb 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5838.IH H5838 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5838 IH ‘‘(B)(i) An employee is entitled to— 1 ‘‘(I) not to exceed 8 hours of leave under 2 this paragraph during any 30-day period; and 3 ‘‘(II) not to exceed 48 hours of leave under 4 this paragraph during any 12-month period. 5 ‘‘(ii) Leave under this paragraph shall be in ad- 6 dition to any leave provided under any other para- 7 graph of this subsection. 8 ‘‘(C) For the purpose of this paragraph— 9 ‘‘(i) the term ‘school’ means an elementary 10 school or secondary school (as such terms are 11 defined in section 9101 of the Elementary and 12 Secondary Education Act of 1965), a Head 13 Start program assisted under the Head Start 14 Act, and a child care facility licensed under 15 State law; and 16 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘community organization’ 17 means a private nonprofit organization that is 18 representative of a community or a significant 19 segment of a community and provides activities 20 for individuals described in subparagraph (A) 21 or (B) of section 6381(6), such as a scouting 22 or sports organization.’’. 23 (b) SCHEDULE.—Section 6382(b)(1) of such title is 24 amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Feb 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5838.IH H5838 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5838 IH (1) by inserting after the second sentence the 1 following new sentence: ‘‘Leave under subsection 2 (a)(5) may be taken intermittently or on a reduced 3 leave schedule.’’; and 4 (2) in the last sentence, by striking ‘‘involved,’’ 5 and inserting ‘‘involved (or, in the case of leave 6 under subsection (a)(5), for purposes of any 30-day 7 or 12-month period),’’. 8 (c) SUBSTITUTION OF PAID LEAVE.—Section 9 6382(d) of such title is amended— 10 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after the subsection des- 11 ignation; and 12 (2) by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘(2) An employee may elect to substitute for 14 leave under subsection (a)(5), any of the employee’s 15 accrued or accumulated annual or sick leave under 16 subchapter I. If the employee elects to substitute ac- 17 cumulated annual or sick leave for leave provided 18 under subsection (a)(5), the employing agency shall 19 not restrict or limit this substitution or impose any 20 additional terms and conditions on such leave that 21 are more stringent on the employee than the terms 22 and conditions set forth in this subchapter.’’. 23 (d) NOTICE.—Section 6382(e) of such title is amend- 24 ed by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Feb 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5838.IH H5838 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 5838 IH ‘‘(4) In any case in which an employee requests 1 leave under paragraph (5) of subsection (a), the em- 2 ployee shall provide the employing agency with not 3 less than 7 days’ notice, before the date the leave is 4 to be taken, of the employee’s intention to take leave 5 under such paragraph.’’. 6 (e) CERTIFICATION.—Section 6383(f) of such title is 7 amended by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)(E) or (3) of section 8 6382(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1)(E), (3), or (5) of 9 section 6382(a)’’. 10 (f) DEFINITION OF GRANDCHILD.—Section 6381 of 11 title 5, United States Code, is amended— 12 (1) in paragraph (11)(B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 13 the end; 14 (2) in paragraph (12), by striking the period at 15 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 16 (3) by adding at the end the following new 17 paragraph: 18 ‘‘(13) the term ‘grandchild’ means a son or 19 daughter of an employee’s son or daughter.’’. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Feb 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5838.IH H5838 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS