S5132-118

Introduced

To promote the economic security and safety of survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, and for other purposes.

118th Congress Introduced Sep 19, 2024

Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.

Summary

What This Bill Does

The SAFE for Survivors Act of 2024 creates new workplace protections and economic support for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and related violence. It establishes a right to 40 days of 'safe leave' per year (10 paid) for employees to address violence-related needs like seeking medical care, legal help, counseling, or housing. The bill also protects survivors from employment discrimination, ensures they can access unemployment benefits if they must quit due to violence, and prevents insurance companies from discriminating against them.

Who Benefits and How

Survivors of violence receive significant new protections: guaranteed time off work with job protection, workplace accommodations (schedule changes, transfers, safety measures), unemployment benefits if they must leave jobs due to violence, and protection from insurance discrimination. Victim services organizations receive expanded grant funding and are authorized to provide resources to employers. Employees generally benefit from new anti-retaliation protections in the workplace.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Employers face new compliance obligations: they must provide 40 days of safe leave (10 paid), make reasonable workplace accommodations, maintain confidentiality of employee status as survivors, post notices about employee rights, and face penalties up to $1,000 per violation plus damages. Insurance companies must implement new protocols to protect survivor privacy, cannot discriminate based on violence victimization status, and face FTC enforcement. State unemployment agencies must train staff on violence dynamics and update their systems.

Key Provisions

  • Creates 40 days of safe leave annually (10 paid) for survivors to address violence-related needs
  • Prohibits workplace discrimination and retaliation against survivors, with strong enforcement remedies
  • Requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for survivor safety
  • Allows survivors who quit due to violence to collect unemployment benefits
  • Bans insurance discrimination against survivors and protects their privacy
  • Invalidates predispute arbitration agreements for claims under this Act

Evidence Chain:

This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.

At a Glance

What This Bill Does

Provides economic protections, job security, insurance protections, and unemployment benefits to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and other qualifying acts of violence.

Key Policy Areas

Labor and Employment, Social Welfare, Insurance Regulation, Violence Against Women, Public Health

Primary Purpose

Provides economic protections, job security, insurance protections, and unemployment benefits to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and other qualifying acts of violence.

Policy Domains

Labor and Employment Social Welfare Insurance Regulation Violence Against Women Public Health

Title I - Grant Program Reauthorization

Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • Victim services organizations
  • Domestic violence coalitions
  • Sexual assault coalitions
Model: N/A | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Title V - Insurance Protections

Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • Survivors seeking insurance coverage
  • Survivors with insurance claims
Model: N/A | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • Insurance companies
  • Health insurers
  • Life insurers
Model: N/A | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Title II - Safe Leave

Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • Survivors of domestic violence
  • Survivors of sexual assault
  • Survivors of stalking
  • Employees generally
Model: N/A | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • Employers
  • Businesses
Model: N/A | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Title IV - Unemployment Compensation

Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • Survivors who quit jobs due to violence
  • Unemployed survivors
Model: N/A | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • State unemployment agencies
  • Unemployment insurance systems
Model: N/A | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Title III - Survivors' Employment Sustainability Act

Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • Survivors of violence seeking employment
  • Current employees who are survivors
Model: N/A | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • Employers
  • Public agencies administering benefits
Model: N/A | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Legislative Progress

Introduced
Introduced Committee Passed
Sep 19, 2024

Mrs. Murray (for herself, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Casey, …

Stakeholder Effects

cui bono?

How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.

Labor
12 mentions across 10 clauses
+12 positive

Currently employed survivors, Employees who are survivors of violence, Low-income survivors of violence

Business
8 mentions across 7 clauses
-8 negative

Employers, Employers using mandatory arbitration clauses, Employers who discriminate

Advocacy Groups
5 mentions across 2 clauses
+5 positive

Domestic violence coalitions, National Resource Center on Domestic Violence, Public health organizations

Financial Services
5 mentions across 3 clauses
-5 negative

Health insurance companies, Insurance companies, Life insurance companies

Professional Services
4 mentions across 4 clauses
+4 positive

Civil rights attorneys, Consumer protection attorneys, Employment attorneys

Government
3 mentions across 3 clauses
-3 negative

Public assistance agencies, State TANF agencies, State unemployment agencies

18/30
sections analyzed
Full impact breakdown

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Violence Against Women Grant Programs
Actor Mappings
"the_director"
→ Director of the Office on Violence Against Women
"the_attorney_general"
→ Attorney General
Domains
Labor and Employment Employee Benefits
Actor Mappings
"the_employer"
→ Any employer as defined in Civil Rights Act of 1964
"the_secretary"
→ Secretary of Labor
Domains
Labor and Employment Anti-Discrimination
Actor Mappings
"the_board"
→ Board of Directors of Office of Congressional Workplace Rights
"the_commission"
→ Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Domains
Unemployment Insurance Social Welfare
Actor Mappings
"the_state"
→ State unemployment agencies
"the_secretary"
→ Secretary of Labor
Domains
Insurance Regulation Public Health Violence Against Women
Actor Mappings
"the_insurer"
→ Any insurance company or health plan
"the_secretary_of_hhs"
→ Secretary of Health and Human Services
"the_secretary_of_labor"
→ Secretary of Labor
Domains
Legal/Technical

Note: 'The Secretary' refers to Secretary of Labor in Titles II and IV, but Title V involves both Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Health and Human Services

Key Definitions

Terms defined in this bill

5 terms
"safe leave" §201

Up to 40 work days of leave in a 12-month period for addressing qualifying acts of violence

"reasonable accommodation" §302

Job-related modification or safety procedure to address impacts of violence or enhance security, including transfers, schedule changes, confidentiality measures, safety protocols

"insurer" §501

Any person or entity engaged in insurance business, including employers providing benefits through employee benefit plans, health insurers, and life/disability/casualty insurers

"qualifying act of violence" §3(a)

Domestic violence, family violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking, dating violence, trafficking, communication of intimate visual depiction, other gender-based violence, or threats/acts causing bodily injury or death

"victim of a qualifying act of violence" §3(b)

An individual who has experienced or is experiencing a qualifying act of violence, or whose family/household member has experienced such violence

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