United States · Amendment · HAMDT

HAMDT 442 (101st)

An amendment in the nature of a substitute which provides only one category of unpaid leave limited to 12 weeks per year, instead of the two categories of leave over a one or two year period in the bill. The substitute would also permanently exempt firms with fewer than 50 employees from coverage, instead of expanding coverage to those with 35 employees after three years, as in the committee bill. Further, under the substitute, private firms with 50 or more employees and state and local governments would be required to provide employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year to allow employees to care for a new child, or a seriously ill child, parent, or spouse, or to use as medical leave if they are temporarily unable to perform their job due to a serious health condition. The substitute also specifies that only one parent at a time may take leave to care for a newborn child and that leave to care for a seriously ill older person could be used only to care for a spouse, biological parent, or the person who raised the employee. The substitute requires that certification of the medical condition must be done by a doctor. Finally, the substitute provides employees of the House of Representatives with the same leave as it provides to private sector employees. The substitute does not chang. the provisions of the bill regarding leave for federal civil service employees.