On March 16, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a measure that would amend the FMLA to provide workers with leave due to the death of a son or daughter. The Parental Bereavement Act of 2017 (also known as the Sarah Grace-Farley-Kluger Act), H.R. 1560, would add "death of a child" as a life event that would qualify for unpaid leave under the FMLA, giving a grieving parent up to 12 weeks to deal with the trauma and then return to work.

 

Currently, the FMLA mandates up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for certain family events, including the birth of a child?but not for the loss of a child. During that 12-week period, an employer cannot terminate an employee who qualifies for such leave. The bill's sponsors noted that it does not mandate any costs to employers or the government.

 

The legislation, which was introduced by Representative Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), is supported by The Farley-Kluger Initiative, a movement started in 2011 to amend FMLA to include parental bereavement, as well as 20 national organizations, according to Gosar's press release. The legislation is cosponsored by Representatives Don Beyer (D-Va.), Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), and Barbra Comstock (R-Va.).

 

A companion bill, S. 528, was introduced in the Senate earlier this year on March 6 by Senator John Tester (D-Mont.). It currently has 12 cosponsors. Similar measures were introduced in the last three sessions of Congress, but none progressed beyond committee.

 

"As a father of three amazing children myself, I know I can speak for everyone here today that our goal is to protect the rights of grieving parents who face the unthinkable pain of losing a child," Gosar said in a statement. "Expanding the FMLA to cover parents coping with the devastation of losing a child is beyond reasonable and should have been included when the legislation was originally passed."  Source:  Wolters Kluwer (Pamela Wolf, J.D.)