Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6220 To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to provide for leave with respect to a public health emergency, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 12, 2020 Mr. SCOTT of Virginia (for himself, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. TAKANO, and Mrs. LEE of Nevada) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Reform, and House Administration, for a period to be sub- sequently 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 to provide for leave with respect to a public health emer- gency, 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. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as ‘‘Emergency Family and 4 Medical Leave Expansion Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Mar 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6220.IH H6220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6220 IH SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL 1 LEAVE ACT OF 1993. 2 (a) PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY LEAVE.—Section 3 102(a)(1) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 4 (29 U.S.C. 2612(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the end 5 the following: 6 ‘‘(F) During the 2-year period beginning 7 on the date of the enactment of the Emergency 8 Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act, be- 9 cause of a qualifying need related to a public 10 health emergency in accordance with section 11 110.’’. 12 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—Title I of the Family and Med- 13 ical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611 et seq.) is amend- 14 ed by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘SEC. 110. PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY LEAVE. 16 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—The following shall apply with 17 respect to leave under section 102(a)(1)(F): 18 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION OF CERTAIN TERMS.—The 19 definitions in section 101 shall apply, except as fol- 20 lows: 21 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEE.—In lieu of the 22 definition in section 101(4)(A), the term ‘eligi- 23 ble employee’ means an employee who has been 24 employed for at least 30 days by the employer 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Mar 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6220.IH H6220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6220 IH with respect to whom leave is requested under 1 section 102(a)(1)(F). 2 ‘‘(B) EMPLOYER THRESHOLD.—Section 3 101(4)(A)(i) shall be applied by substituting ‘1 4 or more employees’ for ‘50 or more employees 5 for each working day during each of 20 or more 6 calendar workweeks in the current or preceding 7 calendar year’. 8 ‘‘(C) PARENT.—In lieu of the definition in 9 section 101(7), the term ‘parent’, with respect 10 to an employee, means any of the following: 11 ‘‘(i) A biological, foster, or adoptive 12 parent of the employee. 13 ‘‘(ii) A stepparent of the employee. 14 ‘‘(iii) A parent-in-law of the employee. 15 ‘‘(iv) A parent of a domestic partner 16 of the employee. 17 ‘‘(v) A legal guardian or other person 18 who stood in loco parentis to an employee 19 when the employee was a child. 20 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL DEFINITIONS.—In addition to 21 the definitions described in paragraph (1), the fol- 22 lowing definitions shall apply with respect to leave 23 under section 102(a)(1)(F): 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Mar 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6220.IH H6220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6220 IH ‘‘(A) QUALIFYING NEED RELATED TO A 1 PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.—The term 2 ‘qualifying need related to a public health emer- 3 gency’, with respect to leave, means the em- 4 ployee has a need for leave for one of the fol- 5 lowing: 6 ‘‘(i) To comply with a recommenda- 7 tion or order by a public official having ju- 8 risdiction or a health care provider on the 9 basis that— 10 ‘‘(I) the physical presence of the 11 employee on the job would jeopardize 12 the health of others because of— 13 ‘‘(aa) the exposure of the 14 employee to coronavirus; or 15 ‘‘(bb) exhibition of symp- 16 toms of coronavirus by the em- 17 ployee; and 18 ‘‘(II) the employee is unable to 19 both perform the functions of the po- 20 sition of such employee and comply 21 with such recommendation or order. 22 ‘‘(ii) To care for a family member of 23 an eligible employee with respect to whom 24 a public official having jurisdiction or a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Mar 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6220.IH H6220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6220 IH health care provider makes a determina- 1 tion that the presence of the family mem- 2 ber in the community would jeopardize the 3 health of other individuals in the commu- 4 nity because of— 5 ‘‘(I) the exposure of such family 6 member to coronavirus; or 7 ‘‘(II) exhibition of symptoms of 8 coronavirus by such family member. 9 ‘‘(iii) To care for the son or daughter 10 of such employee if the school or place of 11 care has been closed, or the child care pro- 12 vider of such son or daughter is unavail- 13 able, due to a public health emergency. 14 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.—The 15 term ‘public health emergency’ means an emer- 16 gency with respect to coronavirus declared by a 17 Federal, State, or local authority. 18 ‘‘(C) CHILD CARE PROVIDER.—The term 19 ‘child care provider’ means a provider who re- 20 ceives compensation for providing child care 21 services on a regular basis, including an ‘eligible 22 child care provider’ (as defined in section 658P 23 of the Child Care and Development Block 24 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858n)). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Mar 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6220.IH H6220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6220 IH ‘‘(D) CORONAVIRUS.—The term ‘coronavi- 1 rus’ has the meaning given the term in section 2 506 of the Coronavirus Preparedness and Re- 3 sponse Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020. 4 ‘‘(E) SCHOOL.—The term ‘school’ means 5 an ‘elementary school’ or ‘secondary school’ as 6 such terms are defined in section 8101 of the 7 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 8 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 9 ‘‘(F) FAMILY.—The term ‘family member’, 10 with respect to an employee, means any of the 11 following: 12 ‘‘(i) A parent of the employee. 13 ‘‘(ii) A spouse of the employee. 14 ‘‘(iii) A sibling of the employee. 15 ‘‘(iv) Next of kin of the employee or 16 a person for whom the employee is next of 17 kin. 18 ‘‘(v) A son or daughter of the em- 19 ployee. 20 ‘‘(vi) A grandparent or grandchild of 21 the employee. 22 ‘‘(b) LEAVE TAKEN INTERMITTENTLY OR ON A RE- 23 DUCED WORK SCHEDULE.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Mar 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6220.IH H6220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6220 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 1 leave taken under section 102(a)(1)(F) may not be 2 taken intermittently or on a reduced work schedule. 3 ‘‘(2) CARE FOR SON OR DAUGHTER.—Para- 4 graph (1) shall not apply with respect to leave taken 5 for the purpose described in subsection (a)(2)(A)(iii) 6 if the son or daughter of the employee with respect 7 to whom the subsection applies has not been exposed 8 to coronavirus. 9 ‘‘(c) RELATIONSHIP TO PAID LEAVE.— 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An employee may elect to 11 substitute any of the accrued vacation leave, per- 12 sonal leave, or medical or sick leave for leave under 13 section 102(a)(1)(F) in accordance with section 14 102(d)(2)(B). 15 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYER REQUIREMENT.—An employer 16 may not require an employee to substitute any leave 17 as described in paragraph (1) for leave under section 18 102(a)(1)(F). 19 ‘‘(d) NOTICE.—In any case where the necessity for 20 leave under section 102(a)(1)(F) for the purpose described 21 in subsection (a)(2)(A)(iii) is foreseeable, an employee 22 shall provide the employer with such notice of leave as is 23 practicable. 24 ‘‘(e) CERTIFICATION.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Mar 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6220.IH H6220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6220 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An employer may require 1 that a request for leave under section 102(a)(1)(F) 2 be supported by documentation described in para- 3 graph (2). An employer may not require such docu- 4 mentation until not later than 3 weeks after the date 5 on which the employee takes such leave. 6 ‘‘(2) SUFFICIENT CERTIFICATION.—The fol- 7 lowing documentation shall be sufficient certifi- 8 cation: 9 ‘‘(A) With respect to leave taken for the 10 purposes described in clause (i) or (ii) of sub- 11 section (a)(2)(A)— 12 ‘‘(i) a recommendation or order from 13 a public official having jursidiction or a 14 health care provider that the relevant indi- 15 vidual has symptoms of coronavirus or 16 should be quarantined; or 17 ‘‘(ii) documentation or evidence that 18 the relevant individual has been exposed to 19 coronavirus. 20 ‘‘(B) With respect to leave taken for the 21 purposes described in clause (iii) of subsection 22 (a)(2)(A), notice from the school, place of care, 23 or child care provider of the son or daughter of 24 the employee of closure or unavailability. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Mar 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6220.IH H6220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6220 IH ‘‘(f) RESTORATION TO POSITION.— 1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 104(a)(1) shall not 2 apply with respect to an employee of an employer 3 who employs fewer than 25 employees if the condi- 4 tions described in paragraph (2) are met. 5 ‘‘(2) CONDITIONS.—The conditions described in 6 this paragraph are the following: 7 ‘‘(A) The employee takes leave under sec- 8 tion 102(a)(1)(F). 9 ‘‘(B) The position held by the employee 10 when the leave commenced does not exist due to 11 economic conditions or other changes in oper- 12 ating conditions of the employer— 13 ‘‘(i) that affect employment; and 14 ‘‘(ii) are caused by a public health 15 emergency during the period of leave. 16 ‘‘(C) The employer makes reasonable ef- 17 forts to restore the employee to a position 18 equivalent to the position the employee held 19 when the leave commenced, with equivalent em- 20 ployment benefits, pay, and other terms and 21 conditions of employment. 22 ‘‘(D) If the reasonable efforts of the em- 23 ployer under subparagraph (C) fail, the em- 24 ployer makes reasonable efforts during the pe- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Mar 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6220.IH H6220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6220 IH riod described in paragraph (3) to contact the 1 employee if an equivalent position described in 2 subparagraph (C) becomes available. 3 ‘‘(3) CONTACT PERIOD.—The period described 4 under this paragraph is the 1-year period beginning 5 on the earlier of— 6 ‘‘(A) the date on which the qualifying need 7 related to a public health emergency concludes; 8 or 9 ‘‘(B) the date that is 12 weeks after the 10 date on which the employee’s leave under sec- 11 tion 102(a)(1)(F) commences.’’. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Mar 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6220.IH H6220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS