[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 35 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 H. R. 35

 To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to clarify the Act, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 7, 2003

 Mrs. Biggert introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
   Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the 
Committees on House Administration and Government Reform, for a period 
    to be subsequently 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 clarify the Act, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

     This Act may be cited as the ``Family and Medical Leave 
Clarification Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

     The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (hereinafter 
        referred to as the ``Act'') is not working as the Congress 
        intended when it passed the Act in 1993. Many employers, 
        including those employers that are nationally recognized as 
        having generous family-friendly benefit and leave programs, are 
        experiencing serious problems complying with the Act.
            (2) The Secretary of Labor's overly broad regulations and 
        interpretations have caused many of these problems by greatly 
        expanding the Act's coverage to apply to many nonserious health 
        conditions.
            (3) Between 1996 and 2002, six congressional hearings--two 
        in the Senate and four in the House of Representatives--
        documented numerous implementation problems with the Act due to 
        the Department of Labor's misapplication of the Act through 
        some of its regulations and interpretations.
            (4) Documented problems generated by the Act include 
        significant new administrative and personnel costs, loss of 
        productivity, scheduling difficulties, unnecessary paperwork 
        and recordkeeping, and other compliance problems.
            (5) The Act often conflicts with employers' paid sick leave 
        policies, prevents employers from managing absences through 
        their absence control plans, and results in most leave under 
        the Act becoming paid leave.
            (6) Administrative problems associated with the use of 
        intermittent leave under the Act are a well-documented issue. 
        Approximately three-quarters (76 percent) of respondents to a 
        2000 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management said 
        they would find compliance easier if the Department of Labor 
        allowed covered leave to be offered and tracked in half-day 
        increments rather than minutes.
            (7) In 1996, the Commission on Leave, established by title 
        III of the Act (29 U.S.C. 2631 et seq.), reported few 
        compliance difficulties with the Act, but the Commission only 
        based its findings on leave taken between January 1994 and June 
        1995. Only after the final regulations became effective in 
        early 1995, and after the issuance of contradictory 
        interpretations of what constitutes a serious health condition, 
        did employers begin to encounter most compliance difficulties. 
        As a result, the Commission report failed to identify many 
        compliance problems, because the findings were primarily based 
        on leave taken before the final regulations became effective.
            (8) A more recent Department of Labor survey, released in 
        January 2001 as an update requested by Congress to the 1996 
        Commission on Leave report, found that between 1995 and 2000, 
        there had been a 21.5 percent decline in the share of covered 
        establishments reporting that it was somewhat easy or very easy 
        to comply with the Act.

SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF SERIOUS HEALTH CONDITION.

     Section 101(11) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 
U.S.C. 2611(11)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as clauses 
        (i) and (ii), respectively;
            (2) by inserting ``(A)'' before ``The term'';
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) Such term includes an illness, injury, 
                impairment, or physical or mental condition that 
                involves care or treatment described in subparagraph 
                (a), such as a heart attack, a heart condition 
                requiring heart bypass or valve operations, a back 
                condition requiring extensive therapy or a surgical 
                procedure, a stroke, a severe respiratory condition, a 
                spinal injury, appendicitis, pneumonia, emphysema, 
                severe arthritis, a severe nervous disorder, an injury 
                caused by a serious accident on or off the job, an 
                ongoing pregnancy, a miscarriage, and a complication or 
                illness related to pregnancy (such as severe morning 
                sickness, a need for prenatal care, childbirth, and 
                recovery from childbirth); and
                    ``(C) Such term does not include a short-term 
                illness, injury, impairment, or condition for which 
                treatment and recovery are very brief.''.

SEC. 4. INTERMITTENT LEAVE.

     Section 102(b)(1) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 
U.S.C. 2612(b)(1)) is amended by inserting before the period at the end 
of the second sentence the following: ``, as certified under section 
103 by the health care provider after each leave occurrence. An 
employer may require an employee to take intermittent leave in 
increments of up to half a workday. An employer may require an employee 
who travels as part of the normal day-to-day work or duty assignment of 
the employee and who requests intermittent leave or leave on a reduced 
schedule to take leave for the duration of that work or assignment if 
the employer cannot reasonably accommodate the employee's request''.

SEC. 5. REQUEST FOR LEAVE.

     Section 102(e) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 
U.S.C. 2612(e)) is amended by inserting after paragraph (2) the 
following:
            ``(3) Request for leave.--If an employer does not exercise, 
        under subsection (d)(2), the right to require an employee to 
        substitute other employer-provided leave for leave under this 
        title, the employer may require the employee who wants leave 
        under this title to request the leave in a timely manner. if an 
        employer requires a timely request under this paragraph, an 
        employee who fails to make a timely request may be denied leave 
        under this title. For purposes of this paragraph, a request for 
        leave shall be considered timely if--
                    ``(A) in the case of foreseeable leave, the 
                employee--
                            ``(i) provides the applicable advance 
                        notice required by paragraphs (1) and (2); and
                            ``(ii) submits any written application 
                        required by the employer for the leave not 
                        later than 5 working days after providing the 
                        notice to the employer; and
                    ``(B) in the case of unforeseeable leave, the 
                employee--
                            ``(i) notifies the employer orally of the 
                        need for the leave--
                                    ``(I) not later than the date the 
                                leave commences; or
                                    ``(II) during such additional 
                                period as may be necessary, if the 
                                employer is physically or mentally 
                                incapable of providing the 
                                notification; and
                            ``(ii) submits any written application 
                        required by the employer for the leave--
                                    ``(I) not later than 5 working days 
                                after providing the notice to the 
                                employer; or
                                    ``(II) during such additional 
                                period as may be necessary, if the 
                                employee is physically or mentally 
                                incapable of submitting the 
                                application.''.

SEC. 6. SUBSTITUTION OF PAID LEAVE.

     Section 102(d)(2) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 
U.S.C. 2612(d)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) Paid absence.--Notwithstanding subparagraphs 
                (A) and (B), with respect to leave provided under 
                subparagraph (D) of subsection (a)(1), where an 
                employer provides a paid absence under the employer's 
                collective bargaining agreement, a welfare benefit plan 
                under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 
                1974 (29 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), or under any other sick 
                leave, sick pay, or disability plan, program, or policy 
                of the employer, the employer may require the employee 
                to choose between the paid absence and unpaid leave 
                provided under this title.''.

SEC. 7. REGULATIONS.

    (a) Revised Regulations.--The Secretary of Labor shall issue 
revised regulations that implement the Family and Medical Leave Act of 
1993 and reflect the amendments made by this Act. In issuing such 
revised regulations, the Secretary shall--
            (1) not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of 
        this Act--
                    (A) review all regulations issued before such date 
                of enactment, including the regulations published in 
                sections 825.114 and 825.115 of title 29, Code of 
                Federal Regulations; and
                    (B) issue proposed regulations; and
            (2) not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, issue final regulations, which shall take effect not 
        later than 90 days after the date of their issuance.
    (b) Application of Existing Regulations.--Regulations and opinion 
letters issued by the Secretary of Labor before the effective date of 
the revised regulations under subsection (a) shall not apply to actions 
taken by an employer after the effective date of such revised 
regulations with respect to leave under the Family and Medical Leave 
Act of 1993.

SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE OF AMENDMENTS.

     The amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date of 
issuance of the final regulations required under section 7(a)(2).
                                 <all>