Sponsors (86)
Official title: To require employers to provide paid annual leave to employees, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 25, 2025 by Seth Magaziner · Last progress July 25, 2025
The bill substantially expands and clarifies paid annual leave and enforcement protections—broadening access, privacy, and remedies for workers—while imposing meaningful compliance, administrative, and litigation costs on employers and some government entities that could be passed on to consumers, employees, or taxpayers.
Most private- and public-sector workers earn paid annual leave from day one (1 hour per 25 worked), expanding access to predictable paid time off for middle-class and low-income families.
Workers can use leave as it accrues for any reason without having to disclose the purpose, protecting privacy and flexibility for caregiving, illness, or personal needs.
Stronger enforcement tools let employees recover unpaid leave, interest, liquidated damages, attorney's fees, and equitable relief, improving access to remedies for low- and middle-income workers.
Employers — especially small businesses — will face higher labor costs (accrual, carryover, separation pay, and treating exempt employees as 40 hours for accrual) that could be passed to consumers through higher prices or reduce hiring/hours.
Significant administrative and compliance burdens (tracking accruals, notices, recordkeeping, repayment/loaned-leave systems, and responding to agency guidance) will raise HR costs and complexity for employers and governments.
The bill increases litigation risk and financial exposure for employers (liquidated damages, fee-shifting, extended statutes of limitation, and waiver of sovereign immunity for some state programs), potentially increasing legal costs and state fiscal liability.
Based on analysis of 9 sections of legislative text.
Establishes a federal paid annual leave entitlement of at least 1 hour per 25 hours worked (up to 80 hours/year) with notice, anti‑retaliation, recordkeeping, enforcement, and payout rules.
Creates a nationwide paid annual leave entitlement that requires covered employers to let employees accrue and use paid leave at a rate of at least 1 hour per 25 hours worked (up to 80 hours per 12-month period). The law defines covered employers and employees (including many federal categories and certain carriers), sets accrual, use, carryover, payout, notice, and recordkeeping rules, forbids retaliation, establishes enforcement by the Secretary of Labor and a private right of action, preserves stronger state/local/contract rights, funds a public awareness campaign, and generally takes effect 180 days after enactment with special timing for existing collective bargaining agreements.