Paid Parental Leave Available for Feds on October 1, 2020

The Federal Employee Paid Leave Act (FEPLA), which was signed into law by President Trump last December gives federal workers up to 12 weeks of paid time off for the birth, adoption or placement of a new child. The legislation was introduced by House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) in March 2019. Twice previously there had been iterations of the bill that made it through the House but never made it to a vote in the Senate.

The legislation stipulates that births, adoptions or placements that take place after Oct. 1, 2020 are eligible for the new parental leave benefits. In other words, try to delay securing your new loved one until after October 1 in order to qualify for the benefit. If you do not wait until after October 1, 2020, you can still use the current 12 weeks of unpaid leave allowed under the Family, Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The rules are very clear that the paid leave is not effective until October 1,2020 or later. Unfortunately, there are no exceptions for an employee whose child is born on September 30th or days earlier.

Under current law, new parent federal employees may take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave under the Family, Medical Leave Act. (FMLA).In the last few weeks, OPM has issued further guidance to agencies on how the new law is to be implemented.

A Few Key Points:

1. In order to be eligible, employees must meet the standard FMLA requirements- to include the following:

A. Employee must have completed 12 months of Federal service of a type under the 5 FMLA provisions

B. Employee has a part-time or full-time work schedule (i.e. employees with an intermittent work schedule are ineligible)

C. Employee has an appointment of more than 1 year in duration (i.e. employees with temporary appointments not to exceed one year are ineligible.

2. Prior to using paid parental leave, an employee is required to enter into a written service agreement to work for the employing agency for 12 weeks after they return from paid leave. Failure to complete the required 12 weeks may result in an employee being required to reimburse the agency for the leave they were paid.

3. Employees must use their paid parental leave benefits within 12 months of the date of birth.

While the landmark legislation is a great step forward, there is additional pressure to extend paid leave for other types of caregiving, such as for older parents or ill family members, or even to simply care for one’s own medical needs. Currently, employees are forced to use accumulated leave or take unpaid FMLA for such circumstances.

With regard to the finer points of detail in the FEPLA, employees are advised to consult with HR representatives at the agency level.