Senator Schumer Introduced ‘Technical Fix’ for Paid Parental Leave

In December, Congress passed and the president signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2020, including a provision granting federal employees 12 weeks of paid parental leave. Due to the construction of the provision, most federal employees were eligible for the new program, but at least two major agencies were not granted access. This month, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) introduced legislation entitled the “Federal Employee Parental Leave Technical Correction Act” to rectify this error.

According to reports from GovExec, lawmakers and the White House spent weeks negotiating the provisions of the NDAA resulting in a compromise to provide federal employees with up to 12 weeks of paid leave per year in the case of a birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child. But it was not until after the bill was signed into law that it was confirmed the provision only applied to Title 5 employees, with few other carve-ins.

This means the provision does not cover employees in agencies such as the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, D.C. courts employees or public defenders. While TSA screeners are eligible for leave, other employees within the agency are not.

To rectify what some have called a mere “technical error,” Senator Schumer introduced S. 3104 with eight cosponsors.

Cosponsoring Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) moved to have the bill immediately passed via unanimous consent days later.

“We, on a bipartisan basis, decided to provide paid parental leave of 12 weeks for the federal workforce, 2.1 million federal workers, so that individuals who are new parents don’t have to make that impossible choice between receiving a paycheck and being a new dad or a new mom,” Schatz said on the Senate floor. “But there was a technical problem, and so a number of federal employees are not going to be covered . . . We can solve that today.”

Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) rejected the measure, preventing the legislation from moving on unanimous consent. It can now be considered under regular order.

As lawmakers work to increase access to paid parental leave, union organizations have pushed focus onto expanding paid leave benefits to include other family leave options, such as sick leave.

American Federation of Government Employees National Secretary-Treasurer Everett Kelley referred to the provision as “a large step in the right direction for full family leave,” upon its passage.