Bill Summary
This bill, known as the "Labor Leave Act," is an amendment to the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. It aims to ensure that employees who are on leave under the Act maintain their health coverage during a lockout initiated by their employer. This means that while an employee is on leave, their employer must continue to provide health coverage and cannot make changes to their health plan unless those changes apply to all employees and are not related to the lockout. The bill also defines a lockout as a work stoppage in which an employer withholds work in order to gain a concession from employees. The Act goes into effect on the date of enactment and the Secretary of Labor must issue amended regulations within 120 days to reflect the changes made by the Act.
Possible Impacts
1. Employees who are on leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 may now be able to maintain their health coverage during an employer lockout, ensuring that they have access to necessary medical care.
2. Employers may face increased financial burden, as they are now required to maintain health coverage for employees who are on leave during a lockout.
3. The definition of "lockout" has now been clarified and expanded, potentially impacting the way labor disputes are handled and resolved in the future.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1549 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1549
To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to ensure that
employees on leave under the Act maintain health coverage during an
employer lockout.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 20, 2019
Mr. Tester introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to ensure that
employees on leave under the Act maintain health coverage during an
employer lockout.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Labor Leave Act''.
SEC. 2. MAINTENANCE OF EMPLOYEE BENEFITS DURING AN EMPLOYER LOCKOUT.
(a) Coverage.--Section 104(c)(1) of the Family and Medical Leave
Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2614(c)(1)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``Except'' and inserting the following:
``(A) In general.--Except'';
(2) by striking the period and inserting ``and shall
maintain the coverage in a situation in which the employer
engages in a lockout during the leave period.''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(B) Changes in health benefits or plans.--Except
with respect to a change that results from a lockout
described in subparagraph (A)--
``(i) if an employer provides a new health
plan or benefits or changes a health plan or
benefits while an employee is on leave under
section 102, the employee is entitled to the
new or changed plan or benefits to the same
extent as the employee would be if the employee
were not on leave; and
``(ii) any change to a health plan, such as
a change in coverage or to a premium or
deductible, that applies to all employees of
the employer's workforce on that plan, also
applies to an employee enrolled under the plan
and on leave under section 102.
``(C) Definition.--In this paragraph, the term
`lockout' means a labor dispute involving a work
stoppage, in which an employer withholds work from its
employees in order to gain a concession from the
employees.''.
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.
(a) In General.--This Act, including the amendment made by this
Act, takes effect on the date of enactment of this Act.
(b) Regulations.--Not later than 120 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall issue amended
regulations under title I of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
(29 U.S.C. 2611 et seq.), taking into account the amendments made by
this Act.
<all>