Sponsors (35)
Official title: To extend protections to part-time workers in the areas of family and medical leave and to ensure equitable treatment in the workplace.
Introduced December 17, 2025 by Janice D. Schakowsky · Last progress December 17, 2025
The bill expands access to job‑protected leave and strengthens scheduling and pay protections for part‑time and temporary workers, improving worker stability and remedies, at the cost of higher compliance, administrative and litigation burdens and reduced staffing flexibility for employers—especially small businesses.
Employees — including parents, recent hires, and federal employees — become eligible for FMLA leave after 90 days (instead of 12 months), giving earlier access to job‑protected leave.
Part‑time, temporary, and schedule‑requesting workers (especially low‑income and middle‑class workers) gain protections: employers cannot pay or treat them worse for having fewer scheduled hours or shorter expected duration, and workers can claim hours they identified in writing and receive compensation if those hours are given to others—improving pay and scheduling stability.
Workers gain stronger enforcement and transparency: the bill creates DOL investigation authority, civil remedies (including representative suits), statutory damages/liquidated damages/penalties, and employer recordkeeping and disclosure requirements, making remedies more accessible and scheduling practices clearer.
Employers — especially small businesses — will face higher short‑term staffing, administrative, and compliance costs from earlier FMLA eligibility plus new scheduling and recordkeeping requirements.
Employers face increased legal exposure and potential costly damages, liquidated damages, interest, and civil penalties for scheduling violations, raising labor costs and the risk of litigation.
Operational flexibility may be constrained: employers may need to offer hours to existing employees before hiring contractors or new staff, complicating staffing during variable demand or emergencies; some employers could respond by hiring fewer part‑time/temporary workers, reducing opportunities for those who need flexible schedules.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Replaces the FMLA 12-month/1,250-hour eligibility test with a 90-day employment requirement and bars scheduling-based discrimination where substantially equal jobs differ only by hours/duration.
Removes the current FMLA eligibility floor that requires 12 months of employment and 1,250 hours worked and replaces it with a 90-day employment requirement, expanding access to leave for many part-time and newer employees. It also creates a new federal prohibition on employers discriminating against workers for being scheduled for fewer weekly hours or shorter expected durations when jobs are substantially equal, and imports existing statutory definitions to cover private-sector, federal, and certain legislative employees. The FMLA eligibility change becomes effective one year after enactment; the bill applies definitions and anti-discrimination rules across covered private employers (with size thresholds), federal employees, Congressional and certain other legislative office employees, and GAO staff, while aligning key terms with existing FLSA and related statutes.