[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 226 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 226

      To establish eligibility requirements for education support 
  professionals and school support staff under the Family and Medical 
               Leave Act of 1993, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 2, 2023

   Ms. Duckworth (for herself, Mr. Coons, Mr. Lujan, Mr. Durbin, Ms. 
 Klobuchar, and Mrs. Gillibrand) introduced the following bill; which 
  was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 
                          Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To establish eligibility requirements for education support 
  professionals and school support staff under the Family and Medical 
               Leave Act of 1993, 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 ``ESP Family Leave Act''.

SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY FOR EDUCATION SUPPORT PROFESSIONALS AND SCHOOL 
              SUPPORT STAFF.

    Section 101(2) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 
U.S.C. 2611(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(F) Education support professionals and school 
                support staff.--
                            ``(i) Determination.--For purposes of 
                        determining whether an employee who is an 
                        education support professional meets the hours 
                        of service requirement specified in 
                        subparagraph (A)(ii), the employee will be 
                        considered to meet the requirement if the 
                        employee has worked a number of hours equal to 
                        not less than 60 percent of the applicable 
                        total monthly hours expected for the employee's 
                        job description and duties, as assigned for the 
                        previous school year.
                            ``(ii) File.--Each employer of an education 
                        support professional shall maintain on file 
                        with the Secretary (in accordance with such 
                        regulations as the Secretary may prescribe) 
                        information specifying the total monthly hours 
                        expected for the employee's job description and 
                        duties for each school year.
                            ``(iii) Definitions.--In this subparagraph:
                                    ``(I) Education support 
                                professional.--The term `education 
                                support professional' (who may also be 
                                known as `school support staff') means 
                                an employee employed by an employer, as 
                                defined in paragraph (4), whose work 
                                takes place primarily within a public 
                                school or public institution of higher 
                                education, which may include--
                                            ``(aa) paraeducators that 
                                        provide instructional and non-
                                        instructional support;
                                            ``(bb) secretarial, 
                                        clerical, and administrative 
                                        support staff;
                                            ``(cc) custodians and 
                                        maintenance service workers 
                                        that provide building and 
                                        grounds maintenance and repair;
                                            ``(dd) skilled trade 
                                        workers that provide services 
                                        in schools, such as 
                                        electricians, carpenters, and 
                                        workers who operate machinery;
                                            ``(ee) workers who provide 
                                        food service, including 
                                        preparation and serving of 
                                        food;
                                            ``(ff) workers who provide 
                                        school transportation and 
                                        delivery services;
                                            ``(gg) computer, 
                                        audiovisual, and language 
                                        technical support staff;
                                            ``(hh) security staff;
                                            ``(ii) nursing, health, and 
                                        therapy support staff, who may 
                                        also provide community, family, 
                                        parent and welfare services; 
                                        and
                                            ``(jj) other staff that may 
                                        serve public education 
                                        students.
                                    ``(II) Employer.--The term 
                                `employer' includes a public school or 
                                public institution of higher education 
                                that meets the definition of employer 
                                in paragraph (4).
                                    ``(III) Public school.--The term 
                                `public school' means a school that is 
                                maintained at public expense for the 
                                education of the children of a 
                                community or district and that 
                                constitutes a part of a system of free 
                                public education commonly including 
                                primary and secondary schools, 
                                including special education 
                                cooperatives, alternative schools, and 
                                other similar facilities.
                                    ``(IV) Public institution of higher 
                                education.--The term `public 
                                institution of higher education' means 
                                an institution of higher education, as 
                                defined in section 101 of the Higher 
                                Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001), 
                                that is funded, at least partly, by 
                                State taxpayers.''.

SEC. 3. ENTITLEMENT TO LEAVE.

    Section 102(a) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 
U.S.C. 2612(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) Calculation of leave for education support 
        professionals.--The Secretary may provide a method for 
        calculating the leave described in paragraph (1) with respect 
        to employees described in section 101(2)(F).''.
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