Paid Sick Days for Public Health Emergencies and Personal and Family Care Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3415 To allow Americans to earn paid sick time so that they can address their own health needs and the health needs of their families. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 5, 2020 Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Mr. BROWN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To allow Americans to earn paid sick time so that they can address their own health needs and the health needs of their families. 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 ‘‘Paid Sick Days for 4 Public Health Emergencies and Personal and Family Care 5 Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 7 In this Act: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Mar 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3415.IS S3415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3415 IS (1) CHILD.—The term ‘‘child’’ means a biologi- 1 cal, foster, or adopted child, a stepchild, a child of 2 a domestic partner, a legal ward, or a child of a per- 3 son standing in loco parentis. 4 (2) DOMESTIC PARTNER.— 5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘domestic 6 partner’’, with respect to an individual, means 7 another individual with whom the individual is 8 in a committed relationship. 9 (B) COMMITTED RELATIONSHIP DE- 10 FINED.—The term ‘‘committed relationship’’ 11 means a relationship between 2 individuals, 12 each at least 18 years of age, in which each in- 13 dividual is the other individual’s sole domestic 14 partner and both individuals share responsi- 15 bility for a significant measure of each other’s 16 common welfare. The term includes any such 17 relationship between 2 individuals, including in- 18 dividuals of the same sex, that is granted legal 19 recognition by a State or political subdivision of 20 a State as a marriage or analogous relationship, 21 including a civil union or domestic partnership. 22 (3) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘domestic 23 violence’’ has the meaning given the term in section 24 40002(a) of the Violence Against Women Act of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Mar 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3415.IS S3415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3415 IS 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12291(a)), except that the ref- 1 erence in such section to the term ‘‘jurisdiction re- 2 ceiving grant monies’’ shall be deemed to mean the 3 jurisdiction in which the victim lives or the jurisdic- 4 tion in which the employer involved is located. Such 5 term also includes dating violence, as that term is 6 defined in such section. 7 (4) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ means 8 an individual who is— 9 (A)(i) an employee, as defined in section 10 3(e) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 11 (29 U.S.C. 203(e)), who is not covered under 12 subparagraph (E), including such an employee 13 of the Library of Congress, except that a ref- 14 erence in such section to an employer shall be 15 considered to be a reference to an employer de- 16 scribed in clauses (i)(I) and (ii) of paragraph 17 (5)(A); or 18 (ii) an employee of the Government Ac- 19 countability Office; 20 (B) a State employee described in section 21 304(a) of the Government Employee Rights Act 22 of 1991 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16c(a)); 23 (C) a covered employee, as defined in sec- 24 tion 101 of the Congressional Accountability 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Mar 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3415.IS S3415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3415 IS Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301), other than an ap- 1 plicant for employment; 2 (D) a covered employee, as defined in sec- 3 tion 411(c) of title 3, United States Code; or 4 (E) a Federal officer or employee covered 5 under subchapter V of chapter 63 of title 5, 6 United States Code. 7 (5) EMPLOYER.— 8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘employer’’ 9 means a person who is— 10 (i)(I) a covered employer, as defined 11 in subparagraph (B), who is not covered 12 under subclause (V); 13 (II) an entity employing a State em- 14 ployee described in section 304(a) of the 15 Government Employee Rights Act of 1991; 16 (III) an employing office, as defined 17 in section 101 of the Congressional Ac- 18 countability Act of 1995; 19 (IV) an employing office, as defined in 20 section 411(c) of title 3, United States 21 Code; or 22 (V) an employing agency covered 23 under subchapter V of chapter 63 of title 24 5, United States Code; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Mar 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3415.IS S3415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3415 IS (ii) engaged in commerce (including 1 government), or an industry or activity af- 2 fecting commerce (including government), 3 as defined in subparagraph (B)(iii). 4 (B) COVERED EMPLOYER.— 5 (i) IN GENERAL.—In subparagraph 6 (A)(i)(I), the term ‘‘covered employer’’— 7 (I) means any person engaged in 8 commerce or in any industry or activ- 9 ity affecting commerce who employs 1 10 or more employees; 11 (II) includes— 12 (aa) any person who acts, 13 directly or indirectly, in the inter- 14 est of an employer to any of the 15 employees of such employer; and 16 (bb) any successor in inter- 17 est of an employer; 18 (III) includes any ‘‘public agen- 19 cy’’, as defined in section 3(x) of the 20 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 21 (29 U.S.C. 203(x)); and 22 (IV) includes the Government 23 Accountability Office and the Library 24 of Congress. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Mar 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3415.IS S3415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3415 IS (ii) PUBLIC AGENCY.—For purposes 1 of clause (i)(IV), a public agency shall be 2 considered to be a person engaged in com- 3 merce or in an industry or activity affect- 4 ing commerce. 5 (iii) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of 6 this subparagraph: 7 (I) COMMERCE.—The terms 8 ‘‘commerce’’ and ‘‘industry or activity 9 affecting commerce’’ mean any activ- 10 ity, business, or industry in commerce 11 or in which a labor dispute would 12 hinder or obstruct commerce or the 13 free flow of commerce, and include 14 ‘‘commerce’’ and any ‘‘industry affect- 15 ing commerce’’, as defined in para- 16 graphs (1) and (3) of section 501 of 17 the Labor Management Relations Act, 18 1947 (29 U.S.C. 142 (1) and (3)). 19 (II) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘em- 20 ployee’’ has the same meaning given 21 such term in section 3(e) of the Fair 22 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 23 U.S.C. 203(e)). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Mar 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3415.IS S3415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3415 IS (III) PERSON.—The term ‘‘per- 1 son’’ has the same meaning given 2 such term in section 3(a) of the Fair 3 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 4 U.S.C. 203(a)). 5 (C) PREDECESSORS.—Any reference in 6 this paragraph to an employer shall include a 7 reference to any predecessor of such employer. 8 (6) EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS.—The term ‘‘em- 9 ployment benefits’’ means all benefits provided or 10 made available to employees by an employer, includ- 11 ing group life insurance, health insurance, disability 12 insurance, sick leave, annual leave, educational bene- 13 fits, and pensions, regardless of whether such bene- 14 fits are provided by a practice or written policy of 15 an employer or through an ‘‘employee benefit plan’’, 16 as defined in section 3(3) of the Employee Retire- 17 ment Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 18 1002(3)). 19 (7) HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.—The term 20 ‘‘health care provider’’ means a provider who— 21 (A)(i) is a doctor of medicine or osteopathy 22 who is authorized to practice medicine or sur- 23 gery (as appropriate) by the State in which the 24 doctor practices; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Mar 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3415.IS S3415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3415 IS (ii) is any other person determined by the 1 Secretary to be capable of providing health care 2 services; and 3 (B) is not employed by an employer for 4 whom the provider issues certification under 5 this Act. 6 (8) PAID SICK TIME.—The term ‘‘paid sick 7 time’’ means an increment of compensated leave 8 that— 9 (A) can be— 10 (i) earned by an employee for use dur- 11 ing an absence from employment for a rea- 12 son described in any paragraph of section 13 3(b); or 14 (ii) provided by an employer during a 15 public health emergency for use during an 16 absence from employment for a reason de- 17 scribed in any paragraph of section 3(b); 18 and 19 (B) is compensated at a rate that is not 20 less than the greatest of— 21 (i) the employee’s regular rate of pay; 22 (ii) the minimum wage rate provided 23 for in section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Mar 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3415.IS S3415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3415 IS Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 1 206(a)(1)); or 2 (iii) the minimum wage rate provided 3 for in the applicable State or local law for 4 the State or locality in which the employee 5 is employed. 6 (9) PARENT.—The term ‘‘parent’’ means a bio- 7 logical, foster, or adoptive parent of an employee, a 8 stepparent of an employee, parent-in-law, parent of 9 a domestic partner, or a legal guardian or other per- 10 son who stood in loco parentis to an employee when 11 the employee was a child. 12 (10) PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.—The term 13 ‘‘public health emergency’’ means a public health 14 emergency declared by the Secretary of Health and 15 Human Services for a jurisdiction, or by a State 16 public health official with authority to declare such 17 an emergency for the State or jurisdiction within the 18 State. 19 (11) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 20 means the Secretary of Labor. 21 (12) SEXUAL ASSAULT.—The term ‘‘sexual as- 22 sault’’ has the meaning given the term in section 23 40002(a) of the Violence Against Women Act of 24 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12291(a)). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Mar 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3415.IS S3415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 3415 IS (13) SPOUSE.—The term ‘‘spouse’’, with re- 1 spect to an employee, has the meaning given such 2 term by the marriage laws of the State in which the 3 marriage was celebrated. 4 (14) STALKING.—The term ‘‘stalking’’ has the 5 meaning given the term in section 40002(a) of the 6 Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 7 12291(a)). 8 (15) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean- 9 ing given the term in section 3 of the Fair Labor 10 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203). 11 (16) VICTIM SERVICES ORGANIZATION.—The 12 term ‘‘victim services organization’’ means a non- 13 profit, nongovernmental organization that provides 14 assistance to victims of domestic violence, sexual as- 15 sault, or stalking or advocates for such victims, in- 16 cluding a rape crisis center, an organization carrying 17 out a domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking 18 prevention or treatment program, an organization 19 operating a shelter or providing counseling services, 20 or a legal services organization or other organization 21 providing assistance through the legal process. 22 SEC. 3. PAID SICK TIME. 23 (a) EARNING OF PAID SICK TIME.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Mar 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3415.IS S3415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 3415 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (c), an 1 employer shall provide each employee employed by 2 the employer not less than 1 hour of earned paid 3 sick time for every 30 hours worked, to be used as 4 described in subsection (b). An employer shall not be 5 required to permit an employee to earn, under this 6 subsection, more than 56 hours of paid sick time in 7 a year, unless the employer chooses to set a higher 8 limit. 9 (2) EXEMPT EMPLOYEES.— 10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 11 paragraph (3), for purposes of this subsection, 12 an employee who is exempt from overtime re- 13 quirements under section 13(a)(1) of the Fair 14 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 15 213(a)(1)) shall be assumed to work 40 hours 16 in each workweek. 17 (B) SHORTER NORMAL WORKWEEK.—If 18 the normal workweek of such an employee is 19 less than 40 hours, the employee shall earn 20 paid sick time under this subsection based upon 21 that normal workweek. 22 (3) DATES FOR BEGINNING TO EARN PAID SICK 23 TIME AND USE.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Mar 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3415.IS S3415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 3415 IS (A) IN GENERAL.—Employees shall begin 1 to earn paid sick time under this subsection at 2 the commencement of their employment. An 3 employee shall be entitled to use the earned 4 paid sick time beginning on the 60th calendar 5 day following commencement of the employee’s 6 employment. After that 60th calendar day, the 7 employee may use the paid sick time as the 8 time is earned. An employer may, at the discre- 9 tion of the employer, loan paid sick time to an 10 employee for use by such employee in advance 11 of the employee earning such sick time as pro- 12 vided in this subsection and may permit use be- 13 fore the 60th day of employment. 14 (B) PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.—Sub- 15 paragraph (A) shall not apply with respect to 16 additional paid sick time provided under sub- 17 section (c). In the event of a public health 18 emergency, an employee may immediately use 19 the additional or accrued paid sick time de- 20 scribed in subsection (c), regardless of how long 21 the employee has been employed by an em- 22 ployer. 23 (4) CARRYOVER.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Mar 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3415.IS S3415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 3415 IS (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 1 subparagraph (B), paid sick time earned under 2 this subsection shall carry over from 1 year to 3 the next. 4 (B) CONSTRUCTION.—This subsection 5 shall not be construed to require an employer to 6 permit an employee to earn more than 56 hours 7 of earned paid sick time at a given time. 8 (5) EMPLOYERS WITH EXISTING POLICIES.— 9 Any employer with a paid leave policy who makes 10 available an amount of paid leave that is sufficient 11 to meet the requirements of this subsection and that 12 may be used for the same purposes and under the 13 same conditions as the purposes and conditions out- 14 lined in subsection (b) shall not be required to p [Text truncated for display. 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