Federal

Caring for All Families Act

Source: Congress.gov · 5,618 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill expands family and medical leave rights by allowing employees to take time off to care for a wider range of relatives and people they have close personal relationships with. The bill also creates new leave for parents to attend children's school activities and for families to handle routine medical appointments.

Who It Affects

Private sector employees covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act. Federal employees. Employers of all sizes that currently follow family leave laws.

Key Provisions

• Employees can now take leave to care for domestic partners (unmarried committed partners), in-laws, grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and people they have close personal relationships with who have serious health conditions. (Sec. 2(b)) • Eligible employees can take up to 4 hours of additional leave per 30-day period and 24 hours per 12-month period to participate in children's or grandchildren's school activities or attend community organization events like sports programs. (Sec. 4(a)) • Employees can use the new leave to attend medical and dental appointments for themselves, their children, spouse or domestic partner, or grandchildren, or to visit elderly relatives in nursing homes or group homes. (Sec. 4(a)) • Employees must provide employers at least 7 days' notice before taking parental involvement and family wellness leave, unless impracticable. (Sec. 4(d)) • Federal employees receive the same expanded family leave protections and parental involvement leave as private sector employees. (Sec. 3 and Sec. 5)

What Changes

The definition of family members eligible for leave expands significantly from the current law, which typically covered only spouses, children, and parents. Employers must now recognize domestic partnerships and extended family relationships. Employees gain entirely new leave rights to attend school events and handle family medical appointments separate from their serious health condition leave. Employers can require employees to schedule activities with healthcare provider approval.

Important Definitions

Domestic partner: A person in a committed personal relationship with an employee recognized under state civil union or domestic partnership law, or an unmarried partner designated by the employee to their employer. Serious health condition: Not explicitly defined in new text added by this bill. Community organization: A private nonprofit organization that serves a community and provides activities for children, like scouting or sports organizations. School: Elementary schools, secondary schools, Head Start programs, or state-licensed child care facilities.

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 242 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 2, 2023 Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mrs. GILLI- BRAND, Ms. SMITH, Mr. BROWN, Mrs. MURRAY, and Mr. WELCH) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 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 23:18 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\S242.IS S242 pbinns on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 242 IS 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 ‘‘Caring for All Families 4 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 the Family and Medical Leave Act of 13 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611) is amended by adding at the 14 end the following: 15 ‘‘(20) ANY OTHER INDIVIDUAL WHOSE CLOSE 16 ASSOCIATION IS THE EQUIVALENT OF A FAMILY RE- 17 LATIONSHIP.—The term ‘any other individual whose 18 close association is the equivalent of a family rela- 19 tionship’, used with respect to an employee, means 20 any person with whom the employee has a signifi- 21 cant personal bond that is or is like a family rela- 22 tionship, regardless of biological or legal relation- 23 ship. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:18 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S242.IS S242 pbinns on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 242 IS ‘‘(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 23:18 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S242.IS S242 pbinns on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 242 IS ‘‘(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 23:18 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S242.IS S242 pbinns on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 242 IS (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 or 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 14 whose close association is the equivalent of 15 a family relationship with the employee, if 16 such spouse, domestic partner, son or 17 daughter, son-in-law or daughter-in-law, 18 parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grand- 19 child, sibling, uncle or aunt, or nephew or 20 niece, or such other individual’’; and 21 (ii) in subparagraph (E), by striking 22 ‘‘spouse, or a son, daughter, or parent of 23 the employee’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse or do- 24 mestic partner, or a son or daughter, son- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:18 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S242.IS S242 pbinns on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 242 IS in-law or daughter-in-law, parent, parent- 1 in-law, grandchild, sibling, uncle or aunt, 2 or nephew or niece of the employee, or any 3 other individual whose close association is 4 the equivalent of a family relationship with 5 the employee’’; and 6 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘spouse, 7 son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of a cov- 8 ered servicemember’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse or 9 domestic partner, son or daughter, son-in-law 10 or daughter-in-law, parent, parent-in-law, 11 grandparent, sibling, uncle or aunt, nephew or 12 niece, or next of kin of a covered servicemem- 13 ber, or any other individual whose close associa- 14 tion is the equivalent of a family relationship 15 with the covered servicemember’’; 16 (2) in subsection (e)— 17 (A) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘son, 18 daughter, spouse, parent, or covered service- 19 member of the employee, as appropriate’’ and 20 inserting ‘‘son or daughter, son-in-law or 21 daughter-in-law, spouse or domestic partner, 22 parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, 23 sibling, uncle or aunt, nephew or niece, or cov- 24 ered servicemember of the employee, or any 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:18 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S242.IS S242 pbinns on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 242 IS other individual whose close association is the 1 equivalent of a family relationship with the em- 2 ployee, as appropriate’’; and 3 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘spouse, 4 or a son, daughter, or parent, of the employee’’ 5 and inserting ‘‘spouse or domestic partner, or a 6 son or daughter, son-in-law or daughter-in-law, 7 parent, parent-in-law, grandchild, sibling, uncle 8 or aunt, or nephew or niece of the employee, or 9 any other individual whose close association is 10 the equivalent of a family relationship with the 11 employee, as appropriate,’’; and 12 (3) in subsection (f)— 13 (A) in paragraph (1)— 14 (i) in the matter preceding subpara- 15 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘, or domestic 16 partners,’’ after ‘‘husband and wife’’; and 17 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 18 ‘‘or parent-in-law’’ after ‘‘parent’’; and 19 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, or 20 those domestic partners,’’ after ‘‘husband and 21 wife’’ each place it appears. 22 (c) CERTIFICATION.—Section 103 of the Family and 23 Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2613) is amend- 24 ed— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:18 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S242.IS S242 pbinns on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 242 IS (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘son, daugh- 1 ter, spouse, or parent of the employee, or of the next 2 of kin of an individual in the case of leave taken 3 under such paragraph (3), as appropriate’’ and in- 4 serting ‘‘son or daughter, son-in-law or daughter-in- 5 law, spouse or domestic partner, parent, parent-in- 6 law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, uncle or aunt, 7 or nephew or niece of the employee, or the next of 8 kin of an individual, or any other individual whose 9 close association is the equivalent of a family rela- 10 tionship with the employee, as appropriate’’; and 11 (2) in subsection (b)— 12 (A) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking ‘‘son, 13 daughter, spouse, or parent and an estimate of 14 the amount of time that such employee is need- 15 ed to care for the son, daughter, spouse, or par- 16 ent’’ and inserting ‘‘son or daughter, son-in-law 17 or daughter-in-law, spouse or domestic partner, 18 parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, 19 sibling, uncle or aunt, or nephew or niece of the 20 employee, or any other individual whose close 21 association is the equivalent of a family rela- 22 tionship with the employee, as appropriate, and 23 an estimate of the amount of time that such 24 employee is needed to care for such son or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:18 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S242.IS S242 pbinns on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 242 IS daughter, son-in-law or daughter-in-law, spouse 1 or domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, 2 grandparent, grandchild, sibling, uncle or aunt, 3 or nephew or niece, or such other individual’’; 4 and 5 (B) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘son, 6 daughter, parent, or spouse who has a serious 7 health condition, or will assist in their recov- 8 ery,’’ and inserting ‘‘son or daughter, son-in-law 9 or daughter-in-law, spouse or domestic partner, 10 parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, 11 sibling, uncle or aunt, or nephew or niece, with 12 a serious health condition, of the employee, or 13 an individual, with a serious health condition, 14 who is any other individual whose close associa- 15 tion is the equivalent of a family relationship 16 with the employee, as appropriate, or will assist 17 in the recovery,’’. 18 (d) EMPLOYMENT AND BENEFITS PROTECTION.— 19 Section 104(c)(3) of the Family and Medical Leave Act 20 of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2614(c)(3)) is amended— 21 (1) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking ‘‘son, 22 daughter, spouse, or parent of the employee, as ap- 23 propriate,’’ and inserting ‘‘son or daughter, son-in- 24 law or daughter-in-law, spouse or domestic partner, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:18 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S242.IS S242 pbinns on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 242 IS parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sib- 1 ling, uncle or aunt, or nephew or niece of the em- 2 ployee, or any other individual whose close associa- 3 tion is the equivalent of a family relationship with 4 the employee, as appropriate,’’; and 5 (2) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by striking ‘‘son, 6 daughter, spouse, or parent’’ and inserting ‘‘employ- 7 ee’s son or daughter, son-in-law or daughter-in-law, 8 spouse or domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, 9 grandparent, grandchild, sibling, uncle or aunt, or 10 nephew or niece, or (with relation to the employee) 11 any other individual whose close association is the 12 equivalent of a family relationship, as appropriate,’’. 13 SEC. 3. LEAVE TO CARE FOR A DOMESTIC PARTNER, SON- 14 IN-LAW, DAUGHTER-IN-LAW, PARENT-IN-LAW, 15 ADULT CHILD, GRANDPARENT, GRANDCHILD, 16 OR SIBLING OF THE EMPLOYEE, OR AN- 17 OTHER RELATED INDIVIDUAL FOR FEDERAL 18 EMPLOYEES. 19 (a) DEFINITIONS.— 20 (1) INCLUSION OF A DOMESTIC PARTNER, SON- 21 IN-LAW, DAUGHTER-IN-LAW, PARENT-IN-LAW, ADULT 22 CHILD, GRANDPARENT, GRANDCHILD, OR SIBLING 23 OF THE EMPLOYEE, OR ANOTHER INDIVIDUAL 24 WHOSE CLOSE ASSOCIATION IS THE EQUIVALENT OF 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:18 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S242.IS S242 pbinns on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 242 IS A FAMILY RELATIONSHIP.—Section 6381 of title 5, 1 United States Code, is amended— 2 (A) in paragraph (11) by striking ‘‘; and’’ 3 and inserting a semicolon; 4 (B) in paragraph (12), by striking the pe- 5 riod and inserting a semicolon; and 6 (C) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(13) the term ‘any other individual whose 8 close association is the equivalent of a family rela- 9 tionship’, used with respect to an employee, means 10 any person with whom the employee has a signifi- 11 cant personal bond that is or is like a family rela- 12 tionship, regardless of biological or legal relation- 13 ship; 14 ‘‘(14) the term ‘domestic partner’, used with re- 15 spect to an employee, means— 16 ‘‘(A) the person recognized as the domestic 17 partner of the employee under any domestic 18 partnership or civil union law of a State or po- 19 litical subdivision of a State; or 20 ‘‘(B) in the case of an unmarried em- 21 ployee, an unmarried adult person who is in a 22 committed, personal relationship with the em- 23 ployee, is not a domestic partner as described 24 in subparagraph (A) or in such a relationship 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:18 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S242.IS S242 pbinns on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 242 IS with any other person, and who is designated to 1 the employing agency by such employee as that 2 employee’s domestic partner; 3 ‘‘(15) the term ‘grandchild’ means the son or 4 daughter of an employee’s son or daughter; 5 ‘‘(16) the term ‘grandparent’ means a parent of 6 a parent of an employee; 7 ‘‘(17) the terms ‘nephew’ and ‘niece’, used with 8 respect to an employee, mean a son or daughter of 9 the employee’s sibling; 10 ‘‘(18) the term ‘parent-in-law’ means a parent 11 of the spouse or domestic partner of an employee; 12 ‘‘(19) the term ‘sibling’ means any person who 1 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]

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