[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1885 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1885

 To provide certain employment protections for family members who are 
 caring for members of the Armed Forces recovering from illnesses and 
                   injuries incurred on active duty.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 26, 2007

 Mr. Reid (for Mr. Obama (for himself, Mrs. McCaskill, Mr. Harkin, Mr. 
Kerry, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Biden, Mr. Durbin, and Mr. Kennedy)) introduced 
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 
               on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide certain employment protections for family members who are 
 caring for members of the Armed Forces recovering from illnesses and 
                   injuries incurred on active duty.

    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 ``Military Family Job Protection 
Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT AGAINST CERTAIN 
              FAMILY MEMBERS CARING FOR RECOVERING MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 
              FORCES.

    (a) Prohibition.--A family member of a recovering servicemember 
described in subsection (b) shall not be denied retention in 
employment, promotion, or any benefit of employment by an employer on 
the basis of the family member's absence from employment as described 
in that subsection, for a period of not more than 52 workweeks.
    (b) Covered Family Members.--A family member described in this 
subsection is a family member of a recovering servicemember who is--
            (1) on invitational orders while caring for the recovering 
        servicemember;
            (2) a non-medical attendee caring for the recovering 
        servicemember; or
            (3) receiving per diem payments from the Department of 
        Defense while caring for the recovering servicemember.
    (c) Treatment of Actions.--An employer shall be considered to have 
engaged in an action prohibited by subsection (a) with respect to a 
person described in that subsection if the absence from employment of 
the person as described in that subsection is a motivating factor in 
the employer's action, unless the employer can prove that the action 
would have been taken in the absence of the absence of employment of 
the person.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Benefit of employment.--The term ``benefit of 
        employment'' has the meaning given such term in section 4303 of 
        title 38, United States Code.
            (2) Caring for.--The term ``caring for'', used with respect 
        to a recovering servicemember, means providing personal, 
        medical, or convalescent care to the recovering servicemember, 
        under circumstances that substantially interfere with an 
        employee's ability to work.
            (3) Employer.--The term ``employer'' has the meaning given 
        such term in section 4303 of title 38, United States Code, 
        except that the term does not include any person who is not 
        considered to be an employer under title I of the Family and 
        Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611 et seq.) because the 
        person does not meet the requirements of section 101(4)(A)(i) 
        of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2611(4)(A)(i)).
            (4) Family member.--The term ``family member'', with 
        respect to a recovering servicemember, has the meaning given 
        that term in section 411h(b) of title 37, United States Code.
            (5) Recovering servicemember.--The term ``recovering 
        servicemember'' means a member of the Armed Forces, including a 
        member of the National Guard or a Reserve, who is undergoing 
        medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy, or is otherwise in 
        medical hold or medical holdover status, for an injury, 
        illness, or disease incurred or aggravated while on active duty 
        in the Armed Forces.
                                 <all>