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Hello everyone, I'm Ian Smith with
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and I'm here to talk to you today about
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two bills that were recently introduced
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in Congress that would significantly
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increase the amount of paid leave given
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to federal employees.
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The Comprehensive Paid Leave for Federal
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Employees Act has been introduced in
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both the House and the Senate. One was
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introduced by Congressman Don Beyer in
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June and a companion version was
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introduced more recently in late July by
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Senator Brian Schatz.
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Both bills would give federal employees
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12 weeks of paid leave
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for situations currently covered under
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the Family um and Medical Leave Act.
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And that that's leave that right now is
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unpaid for most qualifying reasons. But
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here's the thing, federal employees
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already have a pretty robust set of
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leave benefits. So in this video, I'll
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break down what these bills would
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actually do, where they differ from one
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what you already have in terms of leave
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benefits and what gap this would
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realistically fill. I'll also address
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whether each bill has a realistic shot
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of even becoming law. Now before we get
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into the bills, let's do a just a brief
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refresher on FMLA and again that stands
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for the Family and Medical Leave Act.
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FMLA entitles eligible federal employees
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to up to 12 weeks of leave per year for
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qualifying family and medical reasons.
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And those reasons could include a
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serious health condition that prevents
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you from performing your job, caring for
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a spouse, child, or parent with a
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serious health condition, and also
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qualifying situations tied to a family
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member's military deployment. Things
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like arranging child care, handling
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legal and financial affairs during a
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Here's the key point though, FMLA
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already protects your job. Whether your
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leave is paid or unpaid, you can't be
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fired for taking it. But for most of
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these qualifying reasons, everything
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except parental leave, that leave is
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unpaid. You can substitute your accrued
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sick leave or annual leave during an
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FMLA period, but you're drawing down
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balances that have real financial value,
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which we'll get to in a moment.
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You need at least 12 months of federal
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service to be eligible for FMLA.
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So, what would these bills actually do
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for you? Both the House and Senate
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versions would make all 12 weeks of FMLA
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leave paid. Right now, the only FMLA
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situation that comes with paid leave is
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parental leave for a birth, adoption, or
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foster placement. These bills would
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extend that to the remaining qualifying
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reasons. So, again, your own serious
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illness, caring for an ill family
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member, and military deployment
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The paid leave would supplement your
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existing leave balances. You would not
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be required to burn through your accrued
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sick leave or annual leave before using
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That's a significant detail because, as
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we'll discuss, those accrued balances
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carry real retirement value.
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Both versions require 12 months of
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federal service to qualify, which
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matches the existing FMLA eligibility
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Now, let's talk about where these two
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bills diverge because the differences
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are meaningful. The House version,
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introduced by Congressman Beyer, has
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bipartisan sponsorship. Congressman
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Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican from
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Pennsylvania, is a co-sponsor.
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The Senate version, introduced by
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has seven co-sponsors, and every one of
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them is a Democrat or caucuses with
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But, the bigger differences are what's
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The House bill explicitly covers leave
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for an employee or family member who is
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a survivor of dating violence, domestic
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violence, sexual assault, sex
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trafficking, or stalking. That could
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include time off to seek medical care,
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legal services, safe housing, or
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counseling. The Senate bill has no
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comparable provision.
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The House bill also covers pregnancy
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loss, an unsuccessful fertility
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treatment cycle, a failed adoption match
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or surrogacy arrangement, and the death
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of death of an infant during the birth
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parents recovery period. Again, the
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Senate bill doesn't address these
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And finally, they differ on the work
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obligation requirement. Under the
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existing paid parental leave program,
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you have to agree in writing to return
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to your agency for 12 weeks after using
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the leave. The Senate bill keeps that
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12-week requirement for parental leave,
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but it does not extend it to the newly
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The House bill takes a different
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approach. It replaces the flat 12-week
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requirement with an obligation equal to
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however much paid leave you actually
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So, if you use 6 weeks of paid leave,
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your return-to-work obligation would be
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Now, before you get too excited about
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these bills, let's take a step back and
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look at some of the benefits federal
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employees already have, because it's a
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First, there's paid parental leave.
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Since October of 2020, federal employees
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have been entitled to 12 weeks of paid
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leave for the birth, adoption, or foster
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placement of a child.
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A 2-week paid parental
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bereavement leave benefit was added in
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2022 for the death of a child. So,
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parental situations are already covered
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Second, there's sick leave. Federal
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employees accrue sick leave at 4 hours
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per pay period, which is 13 days per
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and there is no cap on how much you can
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Over a long career, that balance can
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grow to be quite large. And here's the
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part many employees don't fully
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appreciate until they're closer to
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retirement. Unused sick leave is
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converted into additional creditable
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service time in your annuity
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calculation. That means a substantial
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sick leave balance at retirement can add
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months, or even more than a year,
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perhaps, to your pension calculation.
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And third, there's annual leave. Your
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accrual rate depends on your years of
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service. It ranges from 4 hours per pay
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period for newer employees
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up to 8 hours per pay period or 26 days
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per year after 15 years.
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Most employees can carry over up to 240
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hours into the following year. And
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unlike sick leave, unused annual leave
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is paid out as a lump sum when you
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separate from federal service. So, it's
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a real financial asset. And of course,
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there are 11 paid federal holidays per
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year on top of all of this. So, what
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would actually change for you if one of
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these bills became law? Since paid
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parental leave already exists, the
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practical gap these bills fill is
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everything else. Your own serious
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illness, caring for a seriously ill
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spouse, child, or parent, and military
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deployment situations.
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The House bill would also add coverage
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for domestic violence and
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stalking-related needs, and for
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pregnancy loss and fertility-related
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You might be thinking, "I can already
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use my sick leave or annual leave for
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those things." And that's true, you can.
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But supporters of the bill argue that
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substituting accrued leave is not
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cost-free. Drawing down your sick leave
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balance costs you creditable service at
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at retirement. As I said, that is an
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important benefit with respect to
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um computing your retirement annuity.
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Using annual leave costs you money from
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the lump sum payout you'd receive at
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separation. And if you're a newer
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federal employee, you may not have much
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accrued leave to draw on in the first
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Supporters also point to federal
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workforce data. According to Senator
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roughly 40% of the federal workforce is
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eligible to retire within the next 3
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years, while only about 6% of federal
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employees are under age 30.
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The sponsors cite research estimating
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paid leave could save the government at
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least $50 million annually in turnover
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and replacement costs.
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Schatz framed it as preventing federal
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workers from having to choose between
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caring for their families and keeping
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their jobs. On the other side, however,
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the critics, including Republican
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members of the House Oversight
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Committee, when earlier versions were
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debated, have argued that federal
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employees already have a generous
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One argument that has been raised by
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House Oversight Committee Chairman James
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Comer, a Republican from Kentucky,
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is that when you add up all the leave
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categories plus federal holidays, a
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federal employee could theoretically
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only work about 8 months out of the year
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under this legislation.
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That characterization may be an
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but it gives you a sense of the
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political headwinds. So, will either of
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these bills actually pass?
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To be honest, probably not, at least not
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in this session of Congress. This
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legislation has been introduced in
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various forms going back to at least
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2021. It's never reached a floor vote in
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The current Congress is controlled by
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Republicans, and the political appetite
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for expanding federal employee benefits
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has historically been limited on that
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The House version does have one
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Republican sponsor in Brian Fitzpatrick,
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which gives it a bipartisan label, but
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the Senate version doesn't have any
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Republican support at all.
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But, that doesn't mean these bills are
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pointless. Each reintroduction keeps the
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issue on the legislative radar,
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and political dynamics can shift.
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Parental leave itself took years of
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failed attempts before it passed in 2019
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with bipartisan support as part of the
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defense spending bill.
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And that's something that you'll see
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happen a lot, too, is you have these
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separate bills, and then when a big
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uh bill that's considered must-pass
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legislation, like the National Defense
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Authorization Act, comes up, a lot of
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times bills like this can get rolled
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into that. Also, before I close, I
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wanted to get your opinion. I've covered
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these bills in articles I've written
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about them before, and the feedback from
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FedSmith readers was mixed. Some people
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liked the idea, and they were supportive
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of of the extra paid leave, but other
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people said, "I don't think this is a
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good idea. As federal employees, we
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already have a lot of paid benefits and
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paid leave benefits. So, why do we need
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this extra legislation?"
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And some people even said they were
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concerned it might create a negative
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opinion uh or perception of federal
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employees among the public if something
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like this was to become law. So, I
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wanted to put the question to you, our
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YouTube viewers, are you in favor of
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this legislation? Do you think it's a
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good idea or not? Would you like to see
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additional paid leave for federal
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employees? Please let me know in the
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We'll continue to track both bills and
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report on any developments. So, for full
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details on everything I've covered
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today, head over to fedsmith.com. We've
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got in-depth articles there on both the
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House and Senate versions, as well as
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many other topics that affect your pay
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and benefits as a current or former
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I've left links to uh related articles
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in the description with more details, so
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please check those out. Also, while
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you're there on fedsmith.com, you can
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subscribe to our free email list to get
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And if you found this video helpful, I'd
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subscribe to our YouTube channel. It
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helps us reach more federal employees
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just like you. Thank you for watching
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and have a good day.
