Sponsors (9)
The bill gives parents a substantial, job‑protected 12‑week bereavement leave and predictable rules, but limits flexibility (no intermittent use), may force use of paid leave or certifications, and includes timing and spousal‑aggregation rules that can reduce practical access to that leave.
Parents and other family members who lose a son or daughter gain a new, job‑protected 12‑workweek bereavement leave, allowing extended time off without risking termination.
Employees can use paid leave in place of unpaid bereavement leave so grieving workers can maintain income during time off.
Eligible federal employees receive parallel bereavement leave protections, aligning federal workforce benefits with the new private‑sector rule.
Parents and family members cannot take the bereavement leave intermittently or on a reduced schedule unless the employer agrees, limiting flexible use of the 12 weeks.
Employers may require employees to substitute paid leave and to provide regulatory certification, which can force use of paid time off or impose documentation burdens on grieving employees.
When both spouses work for the same employer, the rule extending combined‑leave can reduce the total leave available to each spouse, shrinking household time off.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Adds a 12‑workweek FMLA leave for death of a son or daughter, adds certification and notice rules, limits intermittent use, and aligns civil service and school rules.
Official title: To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to provide leave because of the death of a son or daughter, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 6, 2026 by Brad Schneider · Last progress April 6, 2026
Creates a new FMLA leave category giving eligible employees up to 12 workweeks of job‑protected leave following the death of a son or daughter. It updates the definition of “son or daughter,” clarifies rules on intermittent and reduced‑schedule use, allows substitution of paid leave, sets notice and certification requirements if the Secretary of Labor issues regulations, adds a 12‑month expiration for using the leave, and aligns related civil service and school‑employee rules. The changes modify statutory FMLA provisions and related civil service leave law to incorporate bereavement leave for child loss, prescribe procedural rules for notice and certification, and extend existing coordination rules for spouses and special rules for instructional employees to this new leave reason.