Sponsors (39)
Introduced September 16, 2025 by Kirsten Gillibrand · Last progress September 16, 2025
The bill creates a national, relatively generous paid family and medical leave program that expands access and protections—particularly for low‑wage workers and victims of violence—while imposing significant new federal costs, administrative burdens on employers and governments, and privacy/implementation risks that could limit early effectiveness.
Parents and family caregivers will gain a new national paid family and medical leave program administered by SSA that provides time off for bonding, caregiving, medical needs, and family/domestic-violence assistance.
Lower‑earning workers receive relatively higher wage replacement (e.g., up to 85% in the lowest bracket), making leave more financially viable for low-income caregivers.
Employees are protected from retaliation and have job‑restoration and group‑health‑coverage protections while on leave, preserving employment and benefits continuity.
Taxpayers and federal budgets will face substantial new spending to finance nationwide paid leave, grants to legacy States, and expanded SSA operations, which could increase deficits or require offsets.
Employers—especially small businesses—face new administrative burdens (notice requirements, complex wage and workweek calculations), potential litigation exposure, and possible higher costs.
Expanding SSA responsibilities, new data‑sharing, eligibility checks, and complex administrative rules risk implementation delays, paperwork burdens for applicants, and slower benefit payments in early years.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Creates a federal paid family and medical leave insurance program run by SSA with eligibility rules, a wage‑replacement formula, legacy‑state grants, and reporting requirements.
Creates a federal paid family and medical leave insurance program administered by the Social Security Administration that pays monthly wage‑replacement benefits to eligible workers who take time away from work for covered family or medical reasons. The law sets up an Office of Paid Family and Medical Leave inside SSA, defines who qualifies, explains how monthly benefits are calculated and indexed, and requires program reporting and rules for states with existing paid‑leave programs. The program establishes an application window and an earnings test (with a $2,000 earnings threshold for benefit periods beginning in 2026), a tiered benefit formula for 2026, annual legacy‑state grants to states that already have robust paid‑leave laws, required data sharing for administration and reconciliation, and GAO reporting on processing times and program performance.