A bill introduced in the House March 16 would amend the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to allow parents to take 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for the death of a child.
The FMLA requires that employers with 50 or more employees provide workers 12 weeks’ leave for certain reasons. Only employees with at least 12 months’ service who have worked at least 1,250 hours are eligible.
The law currently allows employees to take 12 weeks off:
- For the birth of a child or the placement of a child with the employee for adoption or for foster care;
- To care for a spouse, son, daughter, or parent with a serious health condition;
- For the employee’s own serious health condition; or
- For a qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a military member on covered active duty, or has been called to covered active duty status (or has been notified of an impending call or order to covered active duty).
Parental bereavement should have been included in the original law, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) said, announcing the bill at a press conference, calling it “beyond reasonable.”
Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) agreed. “This is common sense,” she said. “This is not just bipartisan; it’s nonpartisan.”
The lawmakers acknowledged that similar bills have been introduced for years without success. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) is sponsoring a sister bill in the Senate (S. 528) and has introduced the bill numerous times since at least 2011, always arguing that parents shouldn’t have to choose between their jobs and taking time off for themselves and for their families.
McSally said she believes the effort has a better chance of advancing this year. It has more momentum because bipartisan agreement on the issue is getting stronger, she said. The House bill has three Republican and three Democrat cosponsors. The Senate bill, however, is sponsored by 12 Democrats and 1 independent.
The House and Senate bills, both known as the Parental Bereavement Act of 2017, propose to add “because of the death of a son or daughter” to the FMLA’s list of qualifying events. Such leave, however, could not be taken intermittently or on a reduced schedule—as the FMLA allows for other events—unless the employer choses to allow the employee to do so.
For spouses employed by the same employer, the employees would be entitled to an aggregate 12 weeks, as with other FMLA leave. The bill leaves it up to the U.S. Department of Labor to issue regulations about whether employers can request documentation for the leave and what the documentation can entail.
According to Gosar’s office, The Farley-Kluger Initiative—led by bereaved parents—is behind the bill. This amendment to the FMLA is a “common sense approach to American workers who suffer the loss of a child,” according to a statement from the organization. “This legislation will enable those who suffer this tragedy to take the time necessary to deal with this loss and be productive colleagues and employees, not to mention stronger family members.”
 Kate McGovern Tornone is an editor at BLR. She has almost 10 years’ experience covering a variety of employment law topics and currently writes for HR Daily Advisor and HR.BLR.com. Before coming to BLR, she served as editor of Thompson Information Services’ ADA and FLSA publications, co-authored the Guide to the ADA Amendments Act, and published several special reports. She graduated from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., with a B.A. in media studies. |