[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 27 (Wednesday, February 9, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 6339-6341]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-2932]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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 

  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 27 / Wednesday, February 9, 2000 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 6339]]



OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

5 CFR Part 630

RIN 3206-AI76


Sick Leave for Family Care Purposes

AGENCY:  Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION:  Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY:  The Office of Personnel Management is issuing proposed 
regulations to expand the use of sick leave for family care purposes. 
Under the proposed regulations, an employee would be able to use a 
total of up to 12 weeks of sick leave each year to care for a family 
member with a serious health condition. This benefit would broaden the 
options available for employees to meet their family responsibilities.

DATES:  Comments must be received on or before March 27, 2000.

ADDRESSES:  Comments may be sent or delivered to Donald J. Winstead, 
Assistant Director for Compensation Administration, Office of Personnel 
Management, Room 7H31, 1900 E Street NW., Washington, DC 20415-8200, 
FAX (202) 606-0824, or email to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Jo Ann Perrini, (202) 606-2858, FAX 
(202) 606-0824, or email to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 24, 1999, President Clinton issued a 
memorandum directing the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to expand 
the use of paid sick leave for family care purposes. Consistent with 
the President's goal of eliminating ``a significant barrier to caring 
for a family member with a serious health condition,'' we are issuing 
proposed regulations that would permit full-time employees to use a 
total of up to 12 administrative workweeks of sick leave each leave 
year to care for a family member with a serious health condition.
    Current regulations permit Federal employees to use a maximum of 13 
days of sick leave each leave year to care for a family member who is 
incapacitated or to make arrangements for or attend the funeral of a 
family member. Federal employees and agencies have expressed full 
support for the use of sick leave for family care or bereavement 
purposes. Federal agencies believe the program fosters goodwill and 
creates a more compassionate, family-friendly work environment, 
resulting in a more productive workforce that enables the Government to 
accomplish its mission. However, because of the 13-day limitation, many 
employees face extended periods of leave without pay when caring for a 
family member after they have exhausted their entitlement to use annual 
and sick leave. In a survey for our 1997 report to Congress on the use 
of sick leave for family care purposes, OPM found there was concern 
that the 13-day limitation was inadequate for employees affected by 
long-term, catastrophic illnesses of family members.
    Under the proposed regulations, mothers and fathers caring for 
their children, grandparents who are raising their grandchildren, and 
employees caring for other family members, including mothers- and 
fathers-in-law, would all greatly benefit from the more generous leave 
entitlement. The new benefit also would address the dilemmas faced by 
parents of children with special needs when trying to balance their 
work and family responsibilities. Allowing an employee to use up to 12 
weeks of his or her own accrued sick leave each year would reduce the 
need for extended periods of leave without pay, which has a negative 
effect on an employee's pay and benefits, such as within-grade 
increases and health benefits. As a result, employees would be better 
able to deal with the financial and personal strain caused by a family 
member's medical needs.
    Under the proposed regulations, the term ``serious health 
condition'' would have the same meaning as found in OPM's regulations 
at 5 CFR 630.1202 for administering the Family and Medical Leave Act of 
1993 (FMLA). That definition includes such conditions as cancer, heart 
attacks, strokes, severe injuries, Alzheimer's disease, pregnancy, and 
childbirth. The term ``family member'' would have the same meaning as 
found in OPM's regulations at 5 CFR 630.201, which includes the 
following relatives of the employee: (a) Spouse and parents thereof; 
(b) children, including adopted children, and spouses thereof; (c) 
parents; (d) brothers and sisters, and spouses thereof; and (e) any 
individual related by blood or affinity whose close association with 
the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship.

Part-Time and Uncommon Tours

    Under the proposed regulations, the entitlement to use sick leave 
to care for a family member with a serious health condition would be 
prorated for part-time employees or employees with an uncommon tour of 
duty. For those employees, the amount of sick leave available to care 
for a family member with a serious health condition would be equal to 
12 times the average number of hours in the employee's regularly 
scheduled administrative workweek.

Requesting and Approving Sick Leave for Family Care Purposes

    Employees who wish to use more than 13 days of sick leave in a 
leave year to care for a family member with a serious health condition 
would be subject to the requirements in 5 CFR 630.402 for requesting 
sick leave. To the extent possible, employees would be required to 
request advance approval for sick leave to provide care for a family 
member with a serious health condition. In addition, employees would be 
subject to the requirements in 5 CFR 630.403 for providing 
administratively acceptable evidence or medical certification of a 
serious health condition. Most agencies have established procedures for 
requesting and approving sick leave, and employees would continue to 
follow these procedures when requesting sick leave for family care 
purposes.
    In addition, we are proposing to revise 5 CFR 630.403 to permit 
agencies to establish a uniformly applied policy that requires 
employees to provide administratively acceptable evidence or medical 
certification for a request for sick leave within a specified time 
period. An employee who does not provide the required evidence or 
medical certification within the specified time period would not be 
entitled to sick leave.

[[Page 6340]]

Relationship to Other Family-Friendly Leave Programs

    An employee would continue to be entitled to a total of up to 12 
workweeks of unpaid leave under the FMLA for certain family and medical 
needs. Therefore, an employee would be permitted to substitute up to12 
weeks of sick leave for unpaid leave under the FMLA if he or she is 
caring for a spouse, son or daughter, or parent with a serious health 
condition.
    Employees would continue to be entitled to use a total of up to 13 
days of sick leave each leave year to (1) provide care for a family 
member as a result of physical or mental illness; injury; pregnancy; 
childbirth; or medical, dental, or optical examination or treatment; or 
(2) make arrangements necessitated by the death of a family member or 
attend the funeral of a family member, subject to the requirements and 
limitations in 5 CFR 630.401. The proposed regulations simply extend 
the period during which sick leave may be used to care for a family 
member with a serious health condition. Under the proposed regulations, 
however, any portion of the 13 days of sick leave previously used in a 
leave year for general family care purposes would be subtracted from 
the new entitlement to use a total of up to 12 weeks of sick leave to 
care for a family member with a serious health condition.
    Example 1: An employee uses 13 days (104 hours) of sick leave for 
family care purposes early in the leave year (leave year 1). On April 
1, the employee requests additional sick leave to care for a mother-in-
law with a serious health condition. Since the employee has already 
used the 13-day (104-hour) entitlement to sick leave to care for a 
family member under Sec. 630.401(a)(3)(i), she may use only 9 weeks and 
2 days (376 hours) of sick leave in the same leave year to care for a 
family member with a serious health condition. As of the beginning of 
the next leave year (leave year 2), the employee has a new entitlement 
to use up to 13 days of sick leave for family care or bereavement 
purposes and a new entitlement to use up to 480 hours of sick leave to 
care for a family member with a serious health condition.
    Example 2: An employee used 3 days (24 hours) of sick leave to 
attend the funeral of her grandmother in January. The employee then 
requested an additional 4 weeks (160 hours) of sick leave to care for 
her grandfather, who had pneumonia, a serious health condition. The 
employee has used 184 hours of sick leave for all family care purposes. 
She has a remaining entitlement to 10 days (80 hours) of sick leave for 
general family care purposes or up to 7 weeks and 2 days (296 hours) of 
sick leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition.
    An employee would continue to be responsible for notifying the 
employing agency as to whether he or she is requesting sick leave for 
family care or bereavement purposes or to care for a family member with 
a serious health condition. The employing agency would continue to be 
responsible for maintaining a record of each employee's use of sick 
leave for all family care or bereavement purposes, as required by 5 CFR 
630.408.
    Employees who exhaust their available sick and annual leave as a 
result of caring for a family member may request donated annual leave 
under the voluntary leave transfer or leave bank programs. However, an 
employee's expanded entitlement to use 12 weeks of sick leave under the 
proposed regulations would have to be considered in determining his or 
her eligibility to become a leave recipient under these programs. Under 
the proposed regulations, if an employee wishes to become a leave 
recipient, and the medical emergency involves a family member, the 
employee would have to use all sick leave available to him or her under 
5 CFR 630.401 for family care purposes before qualifying for donated 
annual leave.

Minimum Sick Leave Balance

    A full-time employee is entitled to use up to 5 days (40 hours) of 
his or her accrued or accumulated sick leave (or in the case of a part-
time employee or an employee on an uncommon tour of duty, the number of 
days in his or her regularly scheduled workweek) for family care or 
bereavement purposes without regard to his or her sick leave balance. 
To use more than 5 days (40 hours) of sick leave to care for a family 
member, up to a maximum of 13 days (104 hours), an employee must 
maintain a sick leave balance of at least 10 days (80 hours) at all 
times. Under the proposed regulations, if an employee uses sick leave 
to care for a family member with a serious health condition, these same 
limitations would apply. In summary, an employee may not use more than 
5 days (40 hours) of sick leave for any family-care purpose, unless he 
or she maintains a sick leave balance of at least 10 days (80 hours) 
(or, in the case of a part-time employee or an employee with an 
uncommon tour of duty, two times the number of days in his or her 
regularly scheduled workweek). Although an agency may advance up to 40 
hours of sick leave for family care or bereavement purposes, an agency 
may not advance sick leave to fulfill the 80-hour requirement. In 
addition, an agency may not advance sick leave to allow an employee who 
has a minimum of 80 hours of sick leave in his or her account to use 
additional sick leave for family care purposes.
    Since the President directed OPM to issue proposed regulations, we 
have received numerous inquiries from employees, agency officials, and 
other interested parties who are experiencing a family medical 
emergency and need additional paid time off. To accommodate the 
pressing need for this benefit, we are shortening the normal 60-day 
public comment period to 45 days in order to expedite final action on 
this proposal.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    I certify that these regulations would not have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities because they 
would affect only Federal agencies and employees.

E.O. 12866, Regulatory Review

    This rule has been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget 
in accordance with Executive Order 12866.

Family Assessment Certification

    I certify that these regulations would strengthen the stability of 
the family, help families meet their responsibilities, and increase the 
disposable income of families in accordance with section 654 of the 
Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 1999, as contained 
in section 101(h) of Public Law 105-277, the Omnibus Consolidated and 
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999.

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 630

    Government employees.

U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
Janice R. Lachance,
Director.

    Accordingly, OPM is proposing to amend part 630 of title 5 of the 
Code of Federal Regulations as follows:

PART 630--ABSENCE AND LEAVE

    1. The authority citation for part 630 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 6311; Sec. 630.301 also issued under Pub. L. 
103-356, 108 Stat. 3410; Sec. 630.303 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 
6133(a); Secs. 630.306 and 630.308 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 
6304(d)(3), Pub. L. 102-484, 106 Stat. 2722, and Pub. L. 103-337, 
108 Stat. 2663; subpart D also issued under Pub. L. 103-329, 108 
Stat. 2423; Sec. 630.501 and subpart F also issued under E.O. 11228, 
30 FR 7739, 3 CFR,

[[Page 6341]]

1974 Comp., p. 163; subpart G also issued under 5 U.S.C. 6305; 
subpart H also issued under 5 U.S.C. 6326; subpart I also issued 
under 5 U.S.C. 6332, Pub. L. 100-566, 102 Stat. 2834, and Pub. L. 
103-103, 107 Stat. 1022; subpart J also issued under 5 U.S.C. 6362, 
Pub. L. 100-566, and Pub. L. 103-103; subpart K also issued under 
Pub. L. 105-18, 111 Stat. 158; subpart L also issued under 5 U.S.C. 
6387 and Pub. L. 103-3, 107 Stat. 23; and subpart M also issued 
under 5 U.S.C. 6391 and Pub. L. 102-25, 105 Stat. 92.

Subpart B--Definitions and General Provisions for Annual and Sick 
Leave

    2. In Sec. 630.201(b), a new definition of serious health condition 
is added in alphabetical order to read as follows:


Sec. 630.201  Definitions.

* * * * *
    Serious health condition has the meaning given that term in 
Sec. 630.1202.
* * * * *

Subpart D--Sick Leave

    3. In Sec. 630.401, the introduction to paragraph (a) and 
paragraphs (a)(3) and (b) are revised; paragraphs (c) through (e) are 
redesignated as paragraphs (d) through (f), respectively; a new 
paragraph (c) is added; and in newly designated paragraph (e), ``(c)'' 
is removed and ``(d)'' is added in its place wherever it appears to 
read as follows:


Sec. 630.401  Grant of sick leave.

    (a) Subject to paragraphs (b) through (f) of this section, an 
agency must grant sick leave to an employee when the employee--
* * * * *
    (3)(i) Provides care for a family member who is incapacitated as 
the result of physical or mental illness, injury, pregnancy, or 
childbirth or who receives medical, dental, or optical examination or 
treatment; or
    (ii) Provides care for a family member with a serious health 
condition.
* * * * *
    (b) The amount of sick leave granted to an employee during any 
leave year for the purposes described in paragraphs (a)(3)(i) and (4) 
of this section may not exceed a total of 104 hours (or, in the case of 
a part-time employee or an employee with an uncommon tour of duty, the 
number of hours of sick leave normally accrued by that employee during 
a leave year).
    (c)(1) An employee who is caring for a family member with a serious 
health condition under paragraph (a)(3)(ii) of this section may use a 
total of up to 480 hours of sick leave (or, in the case of a part-time 
employee or an employee with an uncommon tour of duty, an amount of 
sick leave equal to 12 times the average number of hours in his or her 
scheduled tour of duty each week) during a leave year, subject to the 
limitation found in paragraph (c)(2) of this section.
    (2) If, at the time an employee uses sick leave to care for a 
family member with a serious health condition under paragraph 
(a)(3)(ii) of this section, he or she has used any portion of the sick 
leave authorized under paragraph (b) of this section during that leave 
year, that amount must be subtracted from the maximum number of hours 
authorized under paragraph (c)(1) of this section to determine the 
total amount of sick leave that may be used during the remainder of the 
leave year to care for a family member with a serious health condition.
* * * * *
    4. Section 630.403 is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 630.403  Supporting Evidence.

    (a) An agency may grant sick leave only when supported by evidence 
administratively acceptable. Regardless of the duration of the absence, 
an agency may consider an employee's certification as to the reason for 
his or her absence as evidence administratively acceptable. For an 
absence in excess of 3 workdays, or for a lesser period when determined 
necessary, the agency may also require a medical certificate or other 
administratively acceptable evidence as to the reason for an absence 
for any of the purposes described in Sec. 630.401(a).
    (b) An agency may establish a uniformly applied policy that 
requires employees to provide administratively acceptable evidence or 
medical certification for a request for sick leave within a specified 
time period. An employee who does not provide required administratively 
acceptable evidence or medical certification within his or her agency's 
specified time period is not entitled to sick leave.


Sec. 630.405  [Amended.]

    5. In paragraph (a), remove ``(e)'' and add in its place ``(f),'' 
and in paragraph (b), remove the last sentence.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 00-2932 Filed 2-4-00; 4:26 pm]
BILLING CODE 6325-01-P