Sponsors (157)
Official title: To allow Americans to earn paid sick time so that they can address their own health needs and the health needs of their families.
Introduced February 12, 2026 by Rosa L. Delauro · Last progress February 12, 2026
The bill creates a federal minimum paid-sick-and-family-leave framework that expands coverage, clarifies definitions, and strengthens enforcement for many workers while preserving stronger local/contractual benefits — at the cost of higher employer and taxpayer costs, added administrative complexity, and continued uneven protections for some workers.
Workers who already have paid-leave plans (including union members) keep those stronger benefits rather than having them reduced by the new federal minimums, preserving negotiated or local protections.
More employees — notably many federal workers and specified rail industry workers — are explicitly covered and clarified under the Act, extending protections to workplaces and job classes that were previously uncertain.
Low-wage and hourly workers are protected from pay loss when using paid sick time because leave must be paid at no less than the employee’s regular rate or the federal minimum wage, whichever is greater.
Small businesses and employers face higher payroll and operational costs (from paid leave, higher pay floors for leave, and potential damages/fees), which could lead to reduced hiring, hours, or higher consumer prices.
The law creates significant legal and administrative complexity — overlapping statutory, contractual, local, and agency rules plus rushed multi-agency rulemaking — increasing uncertainty for employers and risk of litigation.
Protections remain uneven: workers without stronger contracts or in jurisdictions with weaker local laws get only the federal minimum, and existing collective-bargaining timelines can delay access for some employees.
Based on analysis of 13 sections of legislative text.
Establishes a federal paid sick leave minimum (1 hour per 30 worked, default 56-hour annual cap), with carryover, anti-retaliation, enforcement, and reporting requirements.
Creates a federal paid sick leave floor requiring most employers to provide at least 1 hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked (generally up to 56 hours per year), allows carryover, and permits use after 60 days of employment. It preserves more generous employer or state/local leave, prohibits retaliation, creates enforcement tools (administrative complaints and private suits), requires federal rulemaking and data collection, and authorizes a public awareness campaign.