The Comprehensive Paid Leave for Federal Employees Act will expand federal paid leave to include 12 weeks of family and medical leave.
The amendment, advanced by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey and sponsored in the U.S. House by U.S. Reps. Don Beyer of Virginia, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Don Bacon of Nebraska and Nancy Mace of South Carolina, was adopted as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024.
The U.S. Senate approved the legislation yesterday and today the U.S. House approved. Now the bill proceeds to the desk of President Joe Biden for his signature into law.
Beyer represents a Northern Virginia district with one of the largest concentrations of federal employees of the U.S. House. The amendment would factor in military service when determining eligibility for family and medical leave policies for federal workers.
“Every American worker deserves access to family and medical leave, and the provision we secured in the NDAA will recognize time in military service like time in the federal civil service,” Beyer said. “Passage of this measure will be a big win for my constituents, many of whom are federal workers. But federal employees work across the United States, and a huge number of them served their country in uniform, so the benefit of this much-needed change to law will be felt all over the country. I am grateful to my colleagues in both chambers for their support for this legislation, and in particular to Reps. Chrissy Houlahan, Don Bacon, Nancy Mace, and Chris Smith for their leadership.”
Houlahan said that in 2020 she secured 12 weeks of paid leave for federal workers and 12 weeks for service members in 2023.
“But even as we saw historic progress, a gap remained for our service members transitioning to a job in the federal government. By crediting time in uniform toward paid parental leave for the federal government, we will help retain the best and brightest America has to offer. I am grateful for the steadfast partnership of Rep. Beyer as we strengthen our workforce and, in turn, our national security. I look forward to seeing this policy signed into law in the coming weeks,” Houlahan said.
Bacon said that family medical leave benefits for federal employees is one of Congress’s “more significant legislative accomplishments over the past several years. I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with Congressman Beyer supporting veterans who choose to enter the federal work force by crediting their past military service toward their family and medical leave eligibility requirements. I’m pleased this provision was included in the final conference agreement and look forward to it becoming law before the end of the year.”
“Many servicemembers transition from military service to federal service but their military time does not count towards the Family and Medical Leave Act. This provision which was included in the FY 2024 NDAA will allow veterans who are continuing civil service as a federal employee to count their military service towards the one year required to earn Family and Medical Leave,” Mace said.
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Rebecca Barnabi
