“No parent should have to choose between taking care of their family or keeping their job,” said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., who joined Democrats in supporting the bill. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
A Bipartisan Proposal to Give Feds 12 Weeks of Paid Family Leave Is Back
The bill would grant federal workers additional paid leave to deal with chronic health issues, a sick family member or in connection with a family member on active military duty.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers on Tuesday reintroduced legislation that would expand federal employees’ paid leave benefits to include family leave.
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., are the lead sponsors for the Comprehensive Paid Family Leave Act (H.R. 856), which would provide all federal workers, including U.S. Postal Service employees, with up to 12 weeks per year of paid leave in connection with a personal illness, to care for an ailing family member, or in connection with a family member going on or returning from active duty. Joining the Democrats in support of the measure was Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa.
The bill mirrors legislation enacted in 2019 granting the federal workforce up to 12 weeks of paid leave in connection with the birth, adoption or foster placement of a child. During the last congressional session, House Democrats advanced the proposal out of committee, but it failed to receive a floor vote.
“We were able to achieve a major expansion of paid parental leave for federal workers, but we still have more to do,” Beyer said in a statement. “This basic benefit for workers is even more crucial in the age of COVID-19, but the United States still lags the rest of the world in securing guaranteed paid leave for its workforce.”
Federal employees, like those in the private sector, currently are able to take up to 12 weeks of leave to deal with a health condition or a sick family member under the Family and Medical Leave Act, but that leave must be unpaid. Although the law prevents employers from firing employees taking leave under its provisions, that is not enough to protect families living paycheck to paycheck, Fitzpatrick said.
“No parent should have to choose between taking care of their family or keeping their job,” Fitzpatrick said. “This bipartisan legislation would allow federal employees to take up to [12] weeks of medical and family leave, giving workers the opportunity to care for loved ones without worrying about job security or making ends meet.”
The bill’s reintroduction comes less than a week after President Biden issued a memo urging agencies to expand their use of paid and unpaid leave for federal employees, particularly new hires who have not yet accrued a bank of paid leave or qualified for coverage under the Family and Medical Leave Act, as well as federal workers who need time off to escape and recover from domestic violence.
The measure was quickly endorsed by federal employee unions like the American Federation of Government Employees.
“No worker should have to choose between a paycheck and safely recovering from an illness or caring for a sick loved one,” said AFGE National President Everett Kelley. “The federal government has implicitly acknowledged this fact by reimbursing federal contractors and grantees for the cost of providing paid family leave to their workers. Providing the same benefit to direct federal employees is not only the right thing to do, it will ultimately be more cost-efficient than replacing federal employees who leave for the private sector due to substandard benefits, taking with them expertise and institutional knowledge.”