Protecting Military Parental Leave Evaluations Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 656 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 656

       To improve parental leave for members of the Armed Forces.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 23, 2025

Mrs. Bice (for herself and Ms. Houlahan) introduced the following bill; 
         which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
       To improve parental leave for members of the Armed Forces.

    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 ``Protecting Military Parental Leave 
Evaluations Act''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVED PARENTAL LEAVE FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) In December 2022, Congress expanded the paid parental 
        leave for members of the Armed Forces to 12 weeks during the 12 
        months after the ``birth or adoption of a child of the member 
        and in order to care for such child'' or the ``placement of a 
        minor child with the member for adoption or long-term foster 
        care'' (10 U.S.C. 701(h)(1)(A)).
            (2) The expansion of parental leave raises concerns that 
        members who take such leave may receive lower evaluations 
        compared to those who do not.
            (3) There is currently no provision to exempt members from 
        evaluations due to parental leave, potentially deterring 
        eligible members from taking this leave.
            (4) Each Secretary of a military department has been given 
        authority to implement the leave policies but have not provided 
        explicit guidance on how to characterize such leave for the 
        purposes of evaluations.
            (5) All Armed Forces have non-rated codes or not observed 
        evaluations to exempt members from evaluations during periods 
        where their performance is not observed, but these do not align 
        across the Armed Forces and do not specifically apply to 
        parental leave.
            (6) Members who are parents face unique hardships, and the 
        12 weeks of paid family leave for both mothers and fathers, for 
        birth and adoption, is designed to balance the care needs of 
        their children with the demands of their unit.
            (7) Excessive paperwork required to extend the use of the 
        12 weeks of military family leave beyond one year additionally 
        burdens members and decreases flexibility.
    (b) Requirements.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall--
            (1) prescribe regulations--
                    (A) that exempt a member of the Armed Forces who is 
                taking parental leave, under subparagraph (A) of 
                paragraph (1) of section 701(h) of title 10, United 
                States Code, that exceeds 31 consecutive days, from a 
                performance evaluation; and
                    (B) under subparagraph (B) of such paragraph, to 
                authorize a member to take leave under such section 
                during the two-year period beginning on the birth, 
                adoption, or placement described in such paragraph 
                without having to request a waiver from the Secretary 
                concerned; and
            (2) submit to the Committees on Armed Forces of the Senate 
        and House of Representatives a report regarding the 
        implementation of this section.
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