Federal employees would be entitled to four weeks of paid leave within one
year after childbirth or adoption of a child, under legislation approved
Thursday, June 19, by the House.
The bill, H.R. 5781, approved on a 279-146 vote, allows employees to take
another eight weeks of unpaid leave after paid leave is exhausted.
Currently, federal employees, like their private sector counterparts, are
entitled to take as much as 12 weeks of unpaid leave after the birth or adoption
of a child under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
The Bush administration said it strongly opposes the bill because it would
provide “a costly, unnecessary new paid-leave entitlement.”
The Senate has not yet acted on the proposal.
Filed by Jerry Geisel of Business Insurance, a sister
publication of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail
editors@workforce.com.
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