H.R. 7531 — Healthy Families Act

This section establishes definitions for purposes of the Act, including (1) "child" as, regardless of age, a biological, foster, or adopted child, stepchild, child of a domestic partner, legal ward, or child of a person standing in loco parentis; (2) "commerce" as any activity, business, or industry in commerce or affecting commerce, as specified in the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947; (3) "domestic partner" as another individual with whom the individual is in a committed relationship (i.e., each is the other's sole domestic partner, sharing responsibility for common welfare, including state-recognized marriages, civil unions, or domestic partnerships); and (4) "domestic violence" as defined in the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12291(a)), applied to the victim's or employer's jurisdiction. This section further defines "employee" to include (A) employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (excluding those covered elsewhere), Government Accountability Office employees, certain railroad craft employees of covered employers, state employees under the Government Employee Rights Act of 1991, covered employees under the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301) other than employment applicants, covered employees under 3 U.S.C. §411(c), and federal officers or employees under 5 U.S.C. ch. 63 subch. V (without regard to leave limitations); and defines "employer" to include covered employers under the Fair Labor Standards Act (i.e., persons with 1+ employees for 20+ workweeks), the Government Accountability Office, Library of Congress, congressional employing offices under the Congressional Accountability Act, rail carriers, and others engaged in or affecting commerce (including government); and "employment benefits" as all benefits provided to employees (e.g., health insurance, sick leave, pensions). (Thus, the Act covers congressional staff and offices subject to the Congressional Accountability Act.)

This section requires employers to provide each employee with at least 1 hour of earned paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, up to 56 hours per year (with carryover permitted but no requirement to exceed the annual cap), usable after the 60th calendar day of employment for the employee's own medical conditions or care; family care needs (including for children, parents, spouses, domestic partners, or equivalent family members); or absences related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking (e.g., medical attention, victim services, counseling, relocation, or legal proceedings). For employees exempt from overtime requirements under FLSA section 13(a)(1) (i.e., bona fide executives, administrators, professionals, outside sales, and certain teachers), this section deems them to work 40 hours per workweek for accrual purposes (or their normal workweek if less than 40 hours). This section further (1) permits employers with equivalent existing paid leave policies to satisfy the requirements; (2) prohibits payout of unused sick time upon separation from employment but requires reinstatement of previously earned time (plus new accrual) if rehired within 12 months; (3) bars requirements for employees to find replacements; and (4) mandates reasonable efforts by employees to schedule use without undue disruption, with provision upon oral or written request.

This section requires each employer to notify employees of their paid sick time rights under the Act—including availability of such time, procedures for filing actions, notice requirements for foreseeable leave, protections for exercising rights, and contact information for the Secretary (or other authority)—via individual notices, employee handbooks, and posted notices in conspicuous locations where employee notices are customarily placed. The posted notice must include excerpts or summaries of pertinent Act provisions, as prepared or approved per regulations under section 12, with willful violations of the posting requirement subject to a civil fine of up to $100 per separate offense.

This section establishes prohibitions, modeled on section 105 of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA; 29 U.S.C. 2615), against employer interference with rights under the Act—including explicit bars on discharging, discriminating, or retaliating against employees or job applicants for exercising such rights; using paid sick time as a negative factor in employment actions (e.g., hiring, promotion, discipline) or under attendance policies—and against discrimination for opposing unlawful practices or participating in proceedings. It further clarifies that these prohibitions do not diminish the scope of FMLA's analogous prohibitions.

This section establishes enforcement authority—modeled on the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA)—for violations of the Act's paid leave requirements (sections 3 and 5), applicable to employees and employers as defined in section 2. Specifically, the section (1) authorizes the Secretary of Labor to investigate compliance (with FLSA-like subpoena power and recordkeeping requirements, generally limited to annual submissions absent reasonable cause); (2) permits affected employees or representatives to bring civil actions for damages (lost wages/benefits or up to 56 hours of wages/salary if none lost, plus interest and liquidated damages), equitable relief, and attorney fees/costs; (3) directs the Secretary to investigate complaints administratively (as under FLSA sections 6 and 7) and file civil suits, with recovered sums paid directly to affected employees or deposited in the Treasury after three years; (4) sets statutes of limitations of two years (three years for willful violations); (5) authorizes the Secretary to seek injunctions; and (6) assigns enforcement for the Government Accountability Office to the Comptroller General and for the Library of Congress to the Librarian of Congress.

This section authorizes the Secretary to conduct a public awareness campaign to educate the public on the paid sick time requirements of the Act and authorizes appropriations of such sums as necessary to carry out the campaign.

This section directs the Commissioner of Labor Statistics to annually compile and report to the Comptroller General information on (1) the amount of paid sick time available to employees by occupation and type of employment establishment and (2) an estimate of average sick time used by employees by occupation and type of employment establishment. It further directs the Comptroller General to conduct a study, not later than five years after enactment, evaluating implementation of the Act—including employees' access to paid sick time, awareness of rights under the Act, and employers' compliance experiences, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, and occupation—and to report the results, along with data compiled under subsection (a), to the appropriate congressional committees. Finally, it directs the Secretary of Labor to submit to Congress, not later than three years after enactment, a report on any enforcement actions under section 6(a) against rail carriers providing paid sick time to certain employees.

This section specifies that (1) the Act does not modify or affect any federal or state law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, familial status, or any other protected status; and (2) the Act does not supersede (including preempt) any state or local law providing greater paid sick time or leave rights (e.g., greater amounts or broader eligibility) than those established under the Act.

This section provides that (1) nothing in the Act diminishes an employer's obligations under any contract, collective bargaining agreement, or employment benefit program or plan that offers greater paid sick leave or other leave rights than those established by the Act; and (2) no such contract, agreement, or program or plan may diminish the rights established under the Act.

This section establishes regulatory procedures to implement the Act. Specifically, it (1) directs the Secretary to prescribe necessary regulations within 180 days for employees described in section 2(5)(A)-(B) and related employers in section 2(6)(A)(i)(I)-(II), with the Comptroller General and Librarian of Congress responsible for their respective employees; and (2) directs, within 90 days thereafter, the Board of Directors of the Office of Compliance to prescribe substantially identical regulations (in accordance with 2 U.S.C. 1384) for congressional employees in section 2(5)(C), the President (or designee) for Executive Schedule employees in section 2(5)(D), and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management for federal leave-covered employees in section 2(5)(E), with modifications allowed only for good cause stated in the regulations.

This section establishes the effective date of the Act as 6 months after the issuance of regulations under section 12(a)(1). For collective bargaining agreements in effect on that date, the Act takes effect on the earlier of (1) the agreement's termination, (2) any amendment to the agreement made on or after that date, or (3) 18 months after the issuance of such regulations.