[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 127 (Thursday, July 27, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4583-S4584]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 675. Mr. MERKLEY submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill H.R. 2810, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2018 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the appropriate place, insert the following:
SEC. __. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE
BANKS.
(a) In General.--Subchapter V of chapter 63 of title 5,
United States Code, is amended--
(1) by redesignating section 6387 as section 6388; and
(2) by inserting after section 6386 the following:
``Sec. 6387. Department of Defense family and medical leave
banks
``(a) Definitions.--In this section--
``(1) the term `covered DOD employee' means an individual
described in section 6381(1)(A) who is employed by the
Department, without regard to whether the individual meets
the requirements of section 6381(1)(B);
``(2) the term `Department' means the Department of Defense
``(3) the term `designated unit' means any agency,
component, or other administrative unit of the Department
designated by the Secretary under subsection (b)(1);
[[Page S4584]]
``(4) the term `family and medical leave bank' means a
family and medical leave bank established under subsection
(b)(2);
``(5) the term `leave recipient' means a covered DOD
employee whose application under subsection (e)(1) to receive
leave from a family and medical leave bank is approved; and
``(6) the term `Secretary' means the Secretary of Defense.
``(b) Establishment of Family and Medical Leave Banks.--The
Secretary, in consultation with the Director of the Office of
Personnel Management, shall--
``(1) designate the agencies, components, or other
administrative units of the Department for which it is
appropriate to have a separate family and medical leave bank;
and
``(2) establish a family and medical leave bank for each
designated unit.
``(c) Establishment of Family and Medical Leave Bank
Boards.--
``(1) In general.--For each family and medical leave bank
established by the Secretary, the Secretary shall establish a
Family and Medical Leave Bank Board consisting of 3 members,
at least 1 of whom shall represent a labor organization or
employee group, to administer the family and medical leave
bank, in consultation with the Office of Personnel
Management.
``(2) Duties.--Each Family and Medical Leave Bank Board
shall--
``(A) review and determine whether to approve applications
to the family and medical leave bank under subsection (e)(1);
``(B) monitor each case of a leave recipient;
``(C) monitor the amount of leave in the family and medical
leave bank and the number of applications for use of leave
from the family and medical leave bank; and
``(D) maintain an adequate amount of leave in the family
and medical leave bank to the greatest extent practicable.
``(3) Qualifying family and medical events.--To the
greatest extent practicable, each Family and Medical Leave
Bank Board shall use the certification forms and standards
established for purposes of section 6382 in determining
whether, for purposes of this section, a circumstance
described in section 6382(a)(1) exists.
``(d) Crediting of Leave.--
``(1) Forfeited leave.--Any annual leave lost by a covered
DOD employee by operation of section 6304 shall be credited
to the family and medical leave bank of the designated unit
employing the covered DOD employee.
``(2) Contributions of use or lose leave.--
``(A) In general.--A covered DOD employee who is projected
to have annual leave that otherwise would be subject to
forfeiture at the end of the leave year under section 6304
may submit an application in writing requesting that a
specified number of hours (not to exceed the number of hours
projected to be subject to forfeiture) be transferred from
the annual leave account of the covered DOD employee to the
family and medical leave bank for the designated unit
employing the covered DOD employee.
``(B) Approval.--If a Family and Medical Leave Bank Board
approves an application by a covered DOD employee under
subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall transfer to the family
and medical leave bank of the designated unit employing the
covered DOD employee the amount of leave requested to be
transferred.
``(e) Application for Leave.--
``(1) In general.--A covered DOD employee who is or
anticipates being absent from regularly scheduled duty
because of a circumstance described in section 6382(a)(1)
(without regard to whether the covered DOD employee is
entitled to leave under section 6382(a)(1)) may submit an
application to receive leave from the family and medical
leave bank of the designated unit employing the covered DOD
employee, which shall contain such information as the
Secretary, in consultation with the Director of the Office of
Personnel Management, shall by regulation prescribe.
``(2) Determination.--A Family and Medical Leave Bank Board
may--
``(A) approve an application submitted under paragraph (1);
and
``(B) specify the amount of leave that shall be transferred
to a covered DOD employee whose application is approved.
``(3) Maximum amount of leave.--
``(A) In general.--A Family and Medical Leave Bank Board
may not specify an amount of leave to be transferred to a
covered DOD employee that is more than the amount of leave
described in subparagraph (B).
``(B) Amount.--The amount described in this subparagraph
is--
``(i) with respect to a full-time covered DOD employee, 12
weeks; and
``(ii) with respect to a part-time covered DOD employee,
the amount equal to the product obtained by multiplying--
``(I) 12 weeks; by
``(II) the quotient obtained by dividing--
``(aa) the number of hours in the regularly scheduled
workweek of the part-time covered DOD employee; by
``(bb) the number of hours in the regularly scheduled
workweek of a covered DOD employee serving in a comparable
position on a full-time basis.
``(4) Transfer.--The Secretary shall transfer to a covered
DOD employee whose application is approved under paragraph
(2)(A) the number of hours of leave specified under paragraph
(2)(B) from the family and medical leave bank for the
designated unit employing the covered DOD employee.
``(f) Use of Leave.--
``(1) Coordination with existing fml.--A leave recipient
who is entitled to leave under section 6382(a)(1) shall use
any leave transferred to the leave recipient from a family
and medical leave bank in accordance with section 6382(d)(2).
``(2) Failure to use leave.--
``(A) In general.--Any leave transferred to a leave
recipient from a family and medical leave bank that is not
used before the end of the 12-month period beginning on the
date described in subparagraph (B)--
``(i) shall be forfeited by the leave recipient; and
``(ii) shall be credited to the family and medical leave
bank from which the leave was transferred.
``(B) Start of period for use.--The date described in this
subparagraph is the later of--
``(i) the date on which the circumstance described in
section 6382(a)(1) arises; or
``(ii) the date on which leave is transferred to the
covered DOD employee under subsection (e)(4).''.
(b) Use of Family and Medical Leave.--Section 6382(d) of
title 5, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by inserting ``(1)'' before ``An employee may elect''
the first place it appears; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(2)(A) In this paragraph, the term `covered DOD employee'
has the meaning given that term in section 6387.
``(B) A covered DOD employee entitled to leave under
subsection (a)(1) to whom leave is transferred from a family
and medical leave bank under section 6387--
``(i) shall substitute for any leave without pay under
subsection (a)(1) the amount of leave transferred to the
employee from the family and medical leave bank; and
``(ii) may substitute for any leave without pay under
subsection (a)(1) any annual or sick leave accrued or
accumulated by such employee under subchapter I.
``(C) A covered DOD employee to whom leave is transferred
from a family and medical leave bank shall first use all of
the transferred leave before using leave described in
subparagraph (B)(ii).
``(D) The Director of the Office of Personnel Management
shall prescribe any regulations necessary to carry out this
paragraph.''.
(c) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of
sections for chapter 63 of title 5, United States Code, is
amended by striking the item relating to section 6387 and
inserting the following:
``6387. Department of Defense family and medical leave banks.
``6388. Regulations.''.
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