Safe Leave for Victims of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2996 To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to permit leave for an employee to meet their needs related to being a victim of dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, or stalking, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 28, 2023 Mrs. BICE (for herself and Ms. STEVENS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Accountability, and House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speak- er, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the ju- risdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to permit leave for an employee to meet their needs related to being a victim of dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, or stalking, 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 the ‘‘Safe Leave for Victims 4 of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:45 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2996.IH H2996 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2996 IH SEC. 2. ENTITLEMENT RELATING TO BEING A VICTIM OF 1 DATING VIOLENCE, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, 2 SEXUAL ASSAULT, SEX TRAFFICKING, OR 3 STALKING. 4 (a) LEAVE REQUIREMENT.—Section 102(a)(1) of the 5 Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 6 2612(a)(1)) is amended— 7 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as sub- 8 paragraph (G); and 9 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the fol- 10 lowing new subparagraph: 11 ‘‘(F) In order to meet the needs of the em- 12 ployee related to the employee, or a family 13 member of the employee, being a victim of dat- 14 ing violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, 15 sex trafficking, or stalking to— 16 ‘‘(i) seek medical attention or treat- 17 ment for physical or psychological injuries 18 related to domestic violence, dating vio- 19 lence, sexual assault, stalking, or traf- 20 ficking; 21 ‘‘(ii) seek mental health or counseling 22 services for injuries and trauma related to 23 domestic violence, dating violence, sexual 24 assault, stalking, or trafficking; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:45 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2996.IH H2996 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2996 IH ‘‘(iii) seek services from a victim serv- 1 ices organization, including, but not limited 2 to, a domestic violence program, a sexual 3 assault victim service provider, a stalking 4 victim service provider; 5 ‘‘(iv) seek civil or criminal legal serv- 6 ices to prepare for and participate in legal 7 proceedings related to domestic violence, 8 sexual assault, dating violence stalking, or 9 trafficking; 10 ‘‘(v) secure safe housing, including 11 searching for new housing, relocating, and 12 installing additional safety measures; or 13 ‘‘(vi) in a case in which a family mem- 14 ber of the employee has been a victim of 15 dating violence, domestic violence, sexual 16 assault, sex trafficking, or stalking, to as- 17 sist the family member in any of the activi- 18 ties described in clauses (i) through (v).’’. 19 (b) SCHEDULE.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 102(b)(1) of such 21 Act (29 U.S.C. 2612(b)(1)) is amended by inserting 22 after the third sentence the following new sentence: 23 ‘‘Subject to paragraph (2), subsection (e)(2), and 24 subsection (b)(5) of section 103, leave under sub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:45 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2996.IH H2996 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2996 IH paragraph (F) of subsection (a)(1) may be taken 1 intermittently or on a reduced leave schedule.’’ 2 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 102 3 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2612) is amended— 4 (A) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ‘‘or 5 (D)’’ after ‘‘subparagraph (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘, 6 (D), or (F)’’; and 7 (B) in subsection (e)(2), by striking ‘‘or 8 (D)’’ after ‘‘subparagraph (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘, 9 (D), or (F)’’. 10 (c) SUBSTITUTION OF PAID LEAVE.—Section 11 102(d)(2) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2612(d)(2)) is amended 12 by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘(C) MEET NEEDS RELATING TO BEING A 14 VICTIM OF DATING VIOLENCE, DOMESTIC VIO- 15 LENCE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, SEX TRAFFICKING, 16 OR STALKING.—An eligible employee may elect, 17 or an employer may require the employee, to 18 substitute any of the accrued paid vacation 19 leave, personal leave, or medical or sick leave of 20 the employee for leave provided under subpara- 21 graph (F) of subsection (a)(1) for any part of 22 the 12-week period of such leave under such 23 subsection, except that nothing in this title shall 24 require an employer to provide paid sick leave 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:45 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2996.IH H2996 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2996 IH or paid medical leave in any situation in which 1 such employer would not normally provide any 2 such paid leave.’’. 3 (d) CERTIFICATION.—Section 103 of such Act (29 4 U.S.C. 2613) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 5 lowing: 6 ‘‘(g) CERTIFICATION RELATING TO BEING A VICTIM 7 OF DATING VIOLENCE, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, SEXUAL 8 ASSAULT, SEX TRAFFICKING, OR STALKING.— 9 ‘‘(1) Subject to paragraph (2), an employer 10 may require that a request for leave under section 11 102(a)(1)(F) be supported by a certification issued 12 at such time and in such manner as the Secretary 13 may by regulation prescribe. 14 ‘‘(2) In the case of an employee requesting 15 leave under section 102(a)(1)(F) who has not yet re- 16 ceived a certification as described under paragraph 17 (1), such employer shall accept a sworn statement 18 on a form prescribed by the Secretary that such em- 19 ployee has requested such certification.’’. 20 (e) DEFINITIONS.—Section 101 of such Act (29 21 U.S.C. 2611) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 22 lowing new paragraphs: 23 ‘‘(20) DATING VIOLENCE.—The term ‘dating vi- 24 olence’ means violence committed by a person— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:45 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2996.IH H2996 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2996 IH ‘‘(A) who is or has been in a social rela- 1 tionship of a romantic or intimate nature with 2 the employee; and 3 ‘‘(B) where the existence of such a rela- 4 tionship shall be determined based on a consid- 5 eration of the following factors: 6 ‘‘(i) The length of the relationship. 7 ‘‘(ii) The type of relationship. 8 ‘‘(iii) The frequency of interaction be- 9 tween the persons involved in the relation- 10 ship. 11 ‘‘(21) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—The term ‘domes- 12 tic violence’ includes felony or misdemeanor crimes 13 committed by a current or former spouse or intimate 14 partner of the employee under the family or domes- 15 tic violence laws of the jurisdiction receiving grant 16 funding and, in the case of victim services, includes 17 the use or attempted use of physical abuse or sexual 18 abuse, or a pattern of any other coercive behavior 19 committed, enabled, or solicited to gain or maintain 20 power and control over an employee, including 21 verbal, psychological, economic, or technological 22 abuse that may or may not constitute criminal be- 23 havior, by a person who— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:45 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2996.IH H2996 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2996 IH ‘‘(A) is a current or former spouse or inti- 1 mate partner of the employee, or person simi- 2 larly situated to a spouse of the employee; 3 ‘‘(B) is cohabitating, or has cohabitated, 4 with the employee as a spouse or intimate part- 5 ner; 6 ‘‘(C) shares a child in common with the 7 employee; or 8 ‘‘(D) commits acts against a youth or em- 9 ployee who is protected from those acts under 10 the family or domestic violence laws of the ju- 11 risdiction. 12 ‘‘(22) FAMILY MEMBER.—The term ‘family 13 member’ means a spouse, son, daughter, parent, or 14 next of kin. 15 ‘‘(23) SEX TRAFFICKING.—The term ‘sex traf- 16 ficking’ means any conduct proscribed by section 17 1591 of title 18, whether or not the conduct occurs 18 in interstate or foreign commerce or within the spe- 19 cial maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the 20 United States. 21 ‘‘(24) SEXUAL ASSAULT.—The term ‘sexual as- 22 sault’ means any nonconsensual sexual act pro- 23 scribed by Federal, Tribal, or State law, including 24 when the employee lacks capacity to consent. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:45 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2996.IH H2996 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2996 IH ‘‘(25) STALKING.—The term ‘stalking’ means 1 engaging in a course of conduct directed at a spe- 2 cific person that would cause a reasonable person 3 to— 4 ‘‘(A) fear for his or her safety or the safety 5 of others; or 6 ‘‘(B) suffer substantial emotional dis- 7 tress.’’. 8 (f) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—Title I of the Family 9 and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611 et seq.) 10 is amended— 11 (1) in section 102(c), by striking ‘‘subsection 12 (a)(1)(F)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(1)(G)’’; 13 and 14 (2) in section 110— 15 (A) by striking ‘‘section 102(a)(1)(F)’’ 16 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘section 17 102(a)(1)(G)’’; and 18 (B) in subsection (a)(1)(A), by redesig- 19 nating the second clause (ii) as clause (iii). 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:45 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2996.IH H2996 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS