Flexible Leave Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill changes the Family and Medical Leave Act rules for intermittent leave and reduced leave schedules. It replaces existing language in section 102(b)(1) with a rule allowing leave under covered FMLA entitlements to be taken intermittently or on a reduced schedule, subject to notice and certification rules referenced elsewhere in the statute. It also removes several certification provisions from section 103(b), narrowing the extra medical-certification details tied to intermittent or reduced-schedule leave.
Who Benefits and How
FMLA-eligible employees, including workers balancing childbirth, family caregiving, or serious-health-condition responsibilities, benefit because the bill makes intermittent or reduced-schedule leave easier to use when full continuous leave is not practical. Health care providers also face fewer itemized certification questions where the bill strikes paragraphs from the certification section.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Covered employers must administer more intermittent or reduced-schedule leave requests and update FMLA procedures, scheduling, payroll, and certification review practices. Supervisors and human-resources departments must comply with the revised statutory entitlement rather than relying on the prior narrower language.
Key Provisions
- Expands FMLA intermittent or reduced-schedule leave by replacing the first three sentences of section 102(b)(1).
- Requires intermittent or reduced-schedule leave to operate through existing notice, scheduling, and certification provisions instead of separate employer-agreement language.
- Amends FMLA certification rules by striking several subparagraphs that asked for additional facts about intermittent or reduced-schedule leave.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Expands Family and Medical Leave Act intermittent or reduced-schedule leave by replacing narrower conditions for leave taken intermittently under covered FMLA entitlements.
Key Policy Areas
Labor, Healthcare
Primary Purpose
Expands Family and Medical Leave Act intermittent or reduced-schedule leave by replacing narrower conditions for leave taken intermittently under covered FMLA entitlements.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- FMLA-eligible employees
- Workers using family medical leave
- Health care providers completing FMLA certifications
Identified Costs
- Covered employers
- Human resources departments
- Employer payroll administrators
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the Committee on Education and Workforce, and in …
Introduced in House
Ms. McBride (for herself and Mrs. Luna) introduced the following …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Covered employers, FMLA-eligible employees, Workers using family medical leave
Positive-direction: FMLA-eligible employees, Workers using family medical leave
Negative-direction: Covered employers
Health care providers completing FMLA certifications
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "covered_employer"
- → Employer covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act
- "subsection_a_1_or_a_3_workers"
- → Employees entitled to covered FMLA leave
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology