[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2564 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2564

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to require that employers provide 
         a minimum of 1 week of paid annual leave to employees.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 21, 2009

   Mr. Grayson (for himself, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, and Mr. Hinchey) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                          Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to require that employers provide 
         a minimum of 1 week of paid annual leave to employees.

    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 ``Paid Vacation Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, each year 
        the average American works one month (160 hours) more today 
        than in 1976;
            (2) job-related stress costs business $344 billion a year 
        in absenteeism, lost productivity, and health costs;
            (3) some 75 percent of visits to primary care physicians 
        come from stress-induced problems;
            (4) 147 countries require paid vacation leave, and the 
        United States is the only industrialized Nation without a 
        minimum annual leave law;
            (5) one of the fastest growing economies in the world, 
        China, requires 3 weeks off for employees, which they call 
        ``Golden Weeks'';
            (6) Canada requires 2 weeks off for all employees, and 3 
        weeks off for employees with 5 years or more with one employer;
            (7) the Pew Research Center says more free time is the 
        number one priority for middle-class Americans--with 68 percent 
        of those surveyed listed this as a high priority for them;
            (8) in 2008, about half (52 percent) of American workers 
        took a vacation of a week or longer, and only 14 percent of 
        American workers took 2 weeks or more for vacation;
            (9) men who don't take regular vacations are 32 percent 
        more likely to die of heart attacks, and 21 percent more likely 
        to die early of all causes;
            (10) women who don't take regular vacations have a 50 
        percent greater risk of heart attack, and are twice as likely 
        to be depressed as those who do;
            (11) the travel industry adds $740 billion a year to the 
        Nation's economy, while stress and burnout at work cost the 
        economy over $300 billion a year; and
            (12) vacations allow workers and businesses to increase 
        productivity, decrease stress-related health costs, and provide 
        time for family strengthening and bonding.

SEC. 3. ENTITLEMENT TO VACATION.

    Section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. 207) is 
amended by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
    ``(c)(1) Beginning on the date of enactment of the Paid Vacation 
Act of 2009, an eligible employee of an employer that employs 100 or 
more employees at any time during a calendar year shall be entitled to 
a total of 1 workweek of paid vacation during each 12-month period.
    ``(2) Beginning on the date that is 3 years after the date of 
enactment of the Paid Vacation Act of 2009, an eligible employee of an 
employer that employs 50 or more employees at any time during a 
calendar year shall be entitled to a total of 1 workweek of paid 
vacation during each 12-month period, and an eligible employee of an 
employer that employs 100 or more employees shall be entitled to a 
total of 2 workweeks of paid vacation during each 12-month period, 
beginning on that eligible employee's first anniversary of employment.
    ``(3) An eligible employee shall provide the employer with not less 
than 30 days' notice, before the date the paid vacation under paragraph 
(1) or (2) is to begin, of the employee's intention to take paid 
vacation under such paragraph, and identify the date such paid vacation 
shall begin.
    ``(4) For purposes of this subsection--
            ``(A) the term `eligible employee' means an employee who 
        has been employed for at least 12 months by the employer with 
        respect to whom leave is requested under paragraph (1) or (2) 
        and for at least 1,250 hours of service with such employer 
        during such 12-month period; and
            ``(B) the term 1 workweek of `paid vacation' means vacation 
        time, in addition to and apart from sick leave and any leave 
        otherwise required by law, to be taken in a continuous series 
        or block of work days comprising 7 calendar days that cannot be 
        rolled over, but must be used within the 12-month period.
    ``(5) The exemptions to this section provided in section 13 shall 
not apply to this subsection.''.

SEC. 4. PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN BY DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.

    The Secretary of Labor is authorized to conduct a public awareness 
campaign, through the Internet and other media, to inform the public of 
the entitlement to leave afforded by this Act. There is authorized to 
be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for the public awareness 
campaign.

SEC. 5. STUDY ON PRODUCTIVITY.

    The Secretary of Labor shall conduct a study on workplace 
productivity and the effect on productivity of the leave requirement in 
this Act. The study shall also address any benefits to public health 
and psychological well-being as a result of such leave. Not later than 
3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
transmit to Congress a report containing the findings of the study, and 
shall publish such findings on the website of the Department of Labor.
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