LABOR LAW NEWS
Federal Paid Leave Bill Introduced in the House
By Kelsey Basten
Published on November 9, 2017
California House Rep. Mimi Walters introduced the Workflex in the 21st Century Act (HR 4219) to the House of Representatives Nov. 6, 2017. If this law were to pass, employers would face the country’s first-ever federal paid leave law.
The Details
The bill requires companies to provide a certain number of paid leave hours – determined by company size and employee’s length of service – and a workplace flexibility (workflex) option.
Employers would have the ability to opt in or out of the program. If they opt in, they would follow the federal paid leave law and not be required to comply with state and local paid leave laws.
Amount of Paid Leave
The amount of leave would be determined by the following:
| Number of Employees | Amount of Sick Leave (Employees with five or more years of service) | Amount of Sick Leave (Employees with less than five years of service) |
| 1,000 or more | 20 days | 16 days |
| 250 to 999 | 18 days | 14 days |
| 50 to 249 | 15 days | 13 days |
| Fewer than 50 | 14 days | 12 days |
Workflex Options
In addition to paid leave days, employers would also need to provide a workflex option to their workforce. Some examples include:
- Compressed scheduling (Allowing employees to increase daily hours to qualify for a four-day workweek)
- Biweekly work program (permitting employees to work a total of 80 hours over a two-week period)
- Remote work options
- Job-sharing programs
- Flexible scheduling
- Predictive scheduling
Employers would only have to offer these workflex options to employees who have worked at the company for at least a year and at least 1,000 hours in the past 12 months.
Eligible Employees
All employees would be eligible for the benefits under this bill. However, employees would not be entitled to receive the paid leave until after 90 days of employment.
Accrual
Employers may choose from two options:
- Employees can accrue the paid leave throughout the year
- Employers can offer the paid leave to employees as a lump sum at the beginning of the year
Future of the Bill
The future of the Workflex in the 21st Century Act is uncertain, as it was just introduced and is still under debate. GovDocs will track this subject for future updates. Stay updated on this bill by following GovDocs Labor Law News.
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