[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 880 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 880

To amend the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 to provide for 8 
 weeks of paid leave for Senate employees giving birth, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 14, 2007

  Mr. Stevens (for himself, Mr. Byrd, and Mr. Inouye) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
               Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 to provide for 8 
 weeks of paid leave for Senate employees giving birth, 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 ``Senate Family Leave Act''.

SEC. 2. PAID LEAVE FOR LEGISLATIVE BRANCH EMPLOYEES.

    Section 202 of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 
U.S.C. 1312) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by striking paragraph (2); and
                    (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
            ``(2) Paid leave following birth.--
                    ``(A) Leave following birth to assist in employee's 
                recovery.--Leave granted under paragraph (1) in 
                accordance with section 102(a)(1)(D) of the Family and 
                Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612(a)(1)(D)) to 
                an employee who gives birth shall include paid leave 
                for a contiguous period immediately following the 
                birth, to assist in the employee's recovery. The 
                employee shall be entitled to the paid leave for 7 
                contiguous workweeks, or for such lesser amount of 
                leave time as is available to the employee under 
                paragraph (1).
                    ``(B) Leave following birth generally.--Leave 
                granted under paragraph (1) in accordance with section 
                102(a)(1)(A) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 
                1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612(a)(1)(A)) to an employee because 
                of the birth of a son or daughter of the employee shall 
                include paid leave. The employee shall be entitled to 
                the paid leave for 1 workweek, or for such lesser 
                amount of leave time as is available to the employee 
                under paragraph (1).
            ``(3) Paid leave following placement for adoption or foster 
        care.--Leave granted under paragraph (1) in accordance with 
        section 102(a)(1)(B) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 
        1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612(a)(1)(B)) to an employee because of the 
        placement of a son or daughter with the employee for adoption 
        or foster care shall include paid leave. The employee shall be 
        entitled to the paid leave for 1 workweek, or for such lesser 
        amount of leave time as is available to the employee under 
        paragraph (1).
            ``(4) Definitions.--For purposes of this subsection, 
        including the application described in paragraph (1)--
                    ``(A) the term `employer' as used in the Family and 
                Medical Leave Act of 1993 means any employing office 
                headed by a person with the final authority described 
                in section 101(9)(C), concerning a covered employee who 
                is not an employee of the House of Representatives; and
                    ``(B) the term `eligible employee' as used in the 
                Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, and the term 
                `employee' as used in paragraphs (2) and (3), means a 
                covered employee (who is not an employee of the House 
                of Representatives) who has been employed in any 
                employing office for 12 months and for at least 1,250 
                hours of employment during the previous 12 months.'';
            (2) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Paid leave.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Paragraphs (2) and (3) of 
                subsection (a) shall apply to--
                            ``(i) the Government Accountability Office 
                        and each employee of that office who has been 
                        employed by that office as described in 
                        subsection (a)(4)(B); and
                            ``(ii) the Library of Congress and each 
                        employee of that office who has been employed 
                        by that office as described in subsection 
                        (a)(4)(B).
                    ``(B) Regulations.--The Comptroller General of the 
                United States and the Librarian of Congress shall issue 
                regulations to implement the rights and protections 
                established under this paragraph.''; and
            (3) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``(other than 
                subsection (c))'' before the period; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``The'' and 
                inserting ``Except with regard to regulations issued to 
                implement paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (a), 
                the''.

SEC. 3. RESPONSIBLE PARENTING LEAVE FOR LEGISLATIVE BRANCH EMPLOYEES.

    The Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 is amended by 
inserting after section 202 (2 U.S.C. 1312) the following:

``SEC. 202A. RIGHTS AND PROTECTIONS RELATING TO RESPONSIBLE PARENTING 
              LEAVE.

    ``(a) Responsible Parenting Leave Rights and Protections 
Provided.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--For purposes of this subsection, 
        including the application described in paragraph (4)--
                    ``(A) the term `employer' as used in the Family and 
                Medical Leave Act of 1993 means any employing office 
                headed by a person with the final authority described 
                in section 101(9)(C) concerning a covered employee who 
                is not an employee of the House of Representatives;
                    ``(B) the term `eligible employee' as used in the 
                Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, and the term 
                `employee' as used in this subsection, means a covered 
                employee (who is not an employee of the House of 
                Representatives) who has been employed in any employing 
                office for 12 months and for at least 1,250 hours of 
                employment during the previous 12 months; and
                    ``(C) the term `son or daughter' has the meaning 
                given the term in section 101 of the Family and Medical 
                Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611).
            ``(2) Responsible parenting leave rights and protections.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In addition to any leave 
                provided under section 202, an employee shall be 
                entitled to a total of 8 hours of paid leave, which may 
                be taken intermittently during any 12-month period, to 
                accompany the employee's son or daughter to--
                            ``(i) a medical or dental appointment;
                            ``(ii) an appointment with a teacher or 
                        other official of the son's or daughter's 
                        school; or
                            ``(iii) a school function of the son's or 
                        daughter's school.
                    ``(B) Multiple children.--Subparagraph (A) applies 
                separately to each son or daughter of an employee.
            ``(3) Notice and certification.--
                    ``(A) Notice.--In any case in which the necessity 
                for leave under paragraph (2) is foreseeable, the 
                employee shall provide the employing office with not 
                less than 7 days' notice, before the date the leave is 
                to begin, of the employee's intention to take leave 
                under such paragraph. If the necessity for the leave is 
                not foreseeable, the employee shall provide such notice 
                as is practicable.
                    ``(B) Certification.--An employing office may 
                require that a request for leave under paragraph (2) be 
                supported by a certification issued at such time and in 
                such manner as the Board may by regulation prescribe.
            ``(4) Employment and benefits protection and prohibited 
        acts.--The rights and protections established by subsections 
        (a) (other than paragraph (4)) and (c)(1) of section 104 of the 
        Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2614) shall 
        apply to employees with respect to leave under paragraph (2). 
        For purposes of the application described in this paragraph, 
        references in that section 104 to leave shall be considered to 
        be references to leave under paragraph (2).
    ``(b) Remedy.--The remedy for a violation of subsection (a) shall 
be such remedy, including liquidated damages, as would be appropriate 
if awarded under paragraph (1) of section 107(a) of the Family and 
Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2617(a)(1)).
    ``(c) Application to Government Accountability Office and Library 
of Congress.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subsections (a) and (b) shall apply to--
                    ``(A) the Government Accountability Office and each 
                employee of that office who has been employed by that 
                office as described in subsection (a)(1)(B); and
                    ``(B) the Library of Congress and each employee of 
                that office who has been employed by that office as 
                described in subsection (a)(1)(B).
            ``(2) Regulations.--The Comptroller General of the United 
        States and the Librarian of Congress shall issue regulations to 
        implement the rights and protections established under this 
        subsection.
    ``(d) Regulations.--The Board shall, pursuant to section 304, issue 
regulations to implement the rights and protections under this section 
(other than subsection (c)).''.
                                 <all>