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The White House has issued a policy statement in favor of paid parental leave for federal employees, although it does not directly address broader language the House recently passed to provide paid leave for both parental and other family purposes.
The statement related to a provision in HR-3494, an intelligence agencies authorization bill now passed by the House. It would provide up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave to employees of intelligence community agencies on the birth, adoption or foster placement of a child “unless the requested leave would unduly disrupt operations.”
Previously the House had accepted, while passing the annual DoD authorization bill (HR-2500), government-wide language to turn the annual 12 weeks of leave available to federal employees per 12 months under the Family and Medical Leave Act from unpaid time to paid time.
That provision—which the administration did not comment on as that bill was in progress—differs from the language in the intelligence agencies bill. The DoD bill would extend paid leave to family-related purposes other than parental leave for which the FMLA now allows unpaid leave: to care for a spouse, child or parent with a serious condition; for a personal condition that makes the employee unable to work; and for needs arising from the fact that the employee’s spouse, child, or parent is on, or has been called to, active military duty.
Said the administration statement on the intelligence bill, “While the administration supports paid parental leave, it has concerns with limiting such a program to a select few federal agencies. The administration looks forward to working with the Congress on proposals to provide parental leave to all families nationwide, including to all United States government employees, as set forth in the president’s budget.”
The administration’s budget documents have proposed a national paid parental leave program although Congress has not actively considered the issue until recently.
Both of the recently passed House bills now are before the Senate. The Senate version of the intelligence bill contains similar language on paid parental leave while its version of the defense bill does not address leave policies.