[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5496 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5496

To extend protections under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to 
                           part-time workers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 16, 2016

 Ms. Schakowsky (for herself, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, Ms. 
 Wilson of Florida, Ms. Lee, Mr. McDermott, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Scott 
of Virginia, and Mr. Johnson of Georgia) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and 
 in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform and 
House Administration, 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 extend protections under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to 
                           part-time workers.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Family and Medical 
Leave Act Protections for Part-time Workers Act of 2016''.
    (b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) According to a 2012 survey by Abt Associates 
        commissioned by the Department of Labor, only 59 percent of 
        employees are eligible for leave under the Family and Medical 
        Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.).
            (2) The requirement that employees work 1,250 hours for an 
        employer in the previous year (roughly 24 hours per week) to be 
        eligible for job-protected unpaid leave under the Family and 
        Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) excludes 
        many part-time workers from the Act's protections.
            (3) Low-wage workers are less likely than other workers to 
        have access to job-protected leave under the Family and Medical 
        Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.).
            (4) Part-time workers are more than three times as likely 
        as full-time workers to hold low-wage jobs.
            (5) Low-wage jobs are often characterized by high turnover 
        rates and significant variability in work hours, both of which 
        make it difficult to meet the 1,250 hours requirement under the 
        Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.).
            (6) Two-thirds of part-time workers are women. Because 
        women still shoulder a disproportionate share of caregiving 
        responsibilities, these workers are likely to also have a 
        disproportionate need for job-protected, unpaid leave to 
        fulfill these responsibilities.
            (7) Some low-wage workers are working multiple jobs to make 
        ends meet, but their eligibility for leave under the Family and 
        Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) is 
        determined by only by their work for a single employer.
            (8) The survey conducted for the Department of Labor in 
        2012 found that reducing the hours of service requirement to 
        780 hours would result in a nearly 4-percent increase in the 
        percentage of employees who are eligible for leave under the 
        Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.).
            (9) Removing the requirement that employees work 1,250 
        hours in the previous year to qualify for coverage under the 
        Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) 
        will greatly expand access to unpaid leave for the most 
        vulnerable workers.

SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF HOURS OF SERVICE REQUIREMENT FOR FMLA LEAVE.

    (a) Amendment.--Section 101(2)(A) of the Family and Medical Leave 
Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611(2)(A)) is amended to read as follows:
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `eligible employee' 
                means an employee who has been employed, either as a 
                full-time or part-time employee, for at least 12 months 
                by the employer with respect to whom leave is requested 
                under section 102.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect beginning on the date that is one year after the date of 
enactment of this Act.
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