Sponsors (34)
Introduced December 17, 2025 by Janice D. Schakowsky · Last progress December 17, 2025
The bill expands leave, scheduling, and pay protections (especially for recent hires, part‑time, and public‑sector workers) and strengthens enforcement — at the trade‑off of higher costs, administrative burdens, reduced hiring/operational flexibility for employers, and increased enforcement and litigation exposure.
Employees (including many new hires) who have worked at least 90 days gain earlier access to job‑protected FMLA leave, increasing access to paid leave for parents, families, and frontline workers.
Part‑time, temporary, and gig workers gain protections against pay and scheduling discrimination and can request more hours in writing; employers must offer those hours to existing employees before hiring externally, raising chances of additional income for low‑wage workers.
Workers receive stronger enforcement and remedies — a private right of action with wages, benefits, interest, liquidated damages, and attorneys' fees plus enhanced Department of Labor investigatory and penalty authority — improving prospects for recovery and deterrence of violations.
Small businesses and other employers face higher staffing, payroll, and benefit costs from expanded FMLA eligibility and requirements to offer existing employees hours before hiring externally, which could strain budgets or affect hiring.
Employers — especially small firms — will incur greater administrative and compliance burdens (tracking 90‑day eligibility, FMLA requests, recordkeeping, written desired‑hours statements), increasing managerial time and costs.
The broad private right of action with liquidated damages and fee‑shifting increases litigation and liability exposure for employers, potentially raising legal costs and disputes.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Eliminates the FMLA hours-of-service requirement and makes employees eligible for family and medical leave after 90 days of employment, expanding leave access to many part-time and temporary workers. It also bans employers from treating part-time or temporary employees worse than similarly situated full-time employees on pay, scheduling, promotions, and pro rata benefits when jobs are substantially equal. Requires employers to collect a written statement of each employee’s desired weekly hours and availability, to offer available hours to existing employees before hiring outside applicants (with limited exceptions), and to compensate existing employees when a new hire works hours the existing employee had claimed as available. The bill creates DOL investigatory and subpoena authority, private suit rights, civil penalties, and regulatory deadlines; most provisions take effect one year after enactment and agencies must issue regulations within 180 days.