MARKUP OF LEAVE BILLS: H.R. 3757 AND H.R. 925

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP89T00234R000100130008-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 15
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 2, 2013
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: February 5, 1988
• Content Type: MEMO

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5 February 1988
OCA88-0355
MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD
SUBJECT: Markup of Leave Bills: H.R. 3757 and H.R. 925
1. During the morning of 3 February 1988, the House
Compensation and Employee Benefits Subcommittee of the Post
Office and Civil Service Committee marked up H.R. 3757, the
Federal Employees' Leave-Transfer Act of 1988. Only three
amendments were accepted: to change the date from 1987 to
1988 in the title; to correct a typographical error; and
state that shared leave is not a gift violative of 5
7351, so that employees in lower grades can donate
employees in higher grades.
chastised the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) tor
opposing the bill at a late date. (An OPM representative had
presented the subcommittee with a letter opposing the bill
shortly before commencement of the markup; a copy of the
letter is attached.) However, they indicated willingness to
work with OPM to iron out the problems before the bill goes
to the floor. The bill was reported out to the full
committee.
to
U.S.C.
leave to
2. The full committee marked up the bill during the
afternoon. Mr. Ackerman offered an amendment (attached)
exempting the Agency from the bill and requiring it to
establish its own internal leave transfer program. John
and myself had presented arguments before the
subcommittee markup to subcommittee staff members Joe Sisk,
David Adams, Heea Vazirani-Fales, and Alan Lopatkin,
explaining the problems the bill posed to the Agency. There
was also an amendment introduced to aid OPM by defining
personal emergency to include prolonged absence from work and
substantial loss of income and apparently placing a 10-day
cap on the accrual and accumulation of leave.
3. The full committee also marked up H.R. 925, Family
and Medical Leave Act of 1988. Ms. Schroeder indicated that
amendment 906A conforms this bill to the Education and Labor
(private sector) bill, requiring employees to take the leave
within a year of the birth or adoption of the child. The
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amendments offered were adopted and unanimously reported to
the floor. There was no amendment exempting the Agency from
the bill. Agency employees will meet with staff members of
the House intelligence committee next week to discuss
problems with the bill and to seek their assistance in
offering the Agency's amendments, which were shown to the
committee staffers before markup, on the floor.
Attachments
OCA/Leg/
Legislation Division
Office of Congressional Affairs
(5 February 1988)
Distribution:
OriginalCA/Leg/Sub-lect File: Miscelland-d-U?Personnel (w/att),
1 - D/OCA (w/att)
1 - /Liaison (w/att)
1 - OCA/ISC (w/att)
1 - RH Signer (w/o att)
1 - OCA Read (w/o att)
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Office of the Director
UNITED STATES
OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20415
Honorable William D. Ford
Chairman
Committee on Post Office and
Civil Service
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Mr. Chairman:
FEB -2 1988
This is in reply to your request for the views of the Office
of Personnel Management on H.R. 3757, entitled the "Federal
Employees' Leave-Transfer Act of 1987."
H.R. 3757 would establish, for a 3-year period, a Government-
wide program under which employees would be able to donate
annual leave to other employees who need such leave because of
a medical or family emergency or other hardship situation. In
addition, the bill would require 3 single-agency alternative
leave transfer experiments: one involving a "leave fund"
rather than individual-to-individual leave transfers; one
involving the transfer of sick leave as well as annual leave;
and one involving the transfer of sick leave only if insuffi-
cient annual leave is donated.
The Office of Personnel Management has strongly supported the
establishment of a program permitting individual employees to
transfer annual leave to fellow employees who encounter a
serious personal emergency, and we are about to begin operat-
ing such a program on a Governmentwide basis during fiscal
year 1988 under a temporary authority granted by Public Law
100-202.
While our support for the concept of leave transfers is defi-
nite, we regret to advise you that H.R. 3757 is so seriously
flawed in some of its aspects that we must strongly object to
this particular bill.
We believe one of the keys to the success of a leave transfer
program is to ensure that only very serious personal emergen-
cies be covered, so that the popularity of the program among
employees is not diluted by overuse. Accordingly, we believe
the definition of "personal emergency" in proposed 5 U.S.C.
6331(2) should make clear that the employee's absence from
duty will be for a prolonged period of time, and that the
employee's loss of income in the absence of transferred leave
would be substantial.
CON 161-64-4
May 1986
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Honorable William D. Ford 2
Under proposed 5 U.S.C. 6337, an employee who benefits from
transferred annual leave would accrue annual and sick leave
for the duration of the personal emergency, and this leave
would then be made available for the use of the employee after
the emergency ends. We believe this provision would be an
unwise and unnecessary complication of the leave transfer
program. Proposed 5 U.S.C. 6333(b) properly requires that a
leave recipient have exhausted all of his or her own paid
leave before using transferred leave, and we believe that the
recipient should similarly continue to use any leave he or she
accrues during the emergency before using transferred leave.
It would seriously damage the credibility of the leave trans-
fer program for an employee to have benefited from his or her
fellow employees' donation of leave, and then to emerge from
the personal emergency with a large paid leave balance. Of
course, the employee could be advanced annual and sick leave
under normal provisions of law if such leave is needed after
the end of the emergency.
With respect to the 3 single-agency alternative leave transfer
programs under proposed 5 U.S.C. 6339, we are unconvinced of
the need for one of the alternatives, the "leave fund," and
are strongly opposed to even any experimentation with the
transfer of sick leave, as would be provided under the other 2
alternatives. A "leave fund" or "leave bank" approach would
necessarily involve considerably more administrative machinery
than an employee-to-employee transfer program, and might well,
by depersonalizing the program, reduce employee support.
Furthermore, it could entail additional cost for the Govern-
ment, since it would give employees a ready means to utilize
unused annual leave that would otherwise be forfeited. ,
With respect to the 2 alternatives incorporating sick leave
transfer, we remain adamantly opposed to any program that
would involve sick leave, since the transfer of sick leave
would inevitably result in additional costs to the Government.
In this regard, we are pleased to note that H.R. 3757 as
introduced has been modified from an earlier draft version by
eliminating any vestige of sick leave transfer from the
Governmentwide leave transfer program, and we urge that this
elimination of sick leave transfer be extended to the rest of
the bill.
Finally, we believe consideration must be given to the issue
of whether employees may donate leave to superiors or employ-
ees at a higher grade or pay level. Under 5 U.S.C. 7351, an
employee is prohibited from soliciting a contribution from
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111,
Honorable William D. Ford 3
another employee for a gift to an official superior, making a
donation as a gift to an official superior, or accepting a
gift from an employee receiving less pay. Under the temporary
leave transfer program under Public Law 100-202, this restric-
tion is requiring us to prohibit leave donations that would be
in violation of section 7351. We would have no objection if
OPM were to be given regulatory authority to provide appro-
priate exceptions from section 7351 for the leave transfer
program.
In summary, we are strongly opposed to H.R. 3757 as the bill
now stands, but if the objectionable'features discussed above
were to be corrected, we would wholeheartedly endorse the
establishment of this beneficial program throughout the Govern-
ment.
The Office of Management and Budget advises that, from the
standpoint of the Administration's program, there is no objec-
tion to the submission of this bill.
Sincerely,
Constance Horner
Director
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PURPOSE:
SUMMARY OF H.R. 3757
To amend title 5, U.S. Code, to permit voluntary
transfers of leave by Federal employees where
needed because of medical or other emergency
situation.
SOURCE: Introduced by Representative Gary L. Ackerman on
December 14, 1987.
BACKGROUND: Public law 99-500, the Continuing Resolution for
Fiscal Year 1987, established a limited program to
allow Federal employees to transfer annual leave to
co-workers who are forced to be absent from work
for extended periods of time due to personal or
medical emergencies. This program was limited to
four individual cases. Public law 100-202, the
Continuing Resolution for Fiscal Year 1988,
extended this program and removed the cap on the
number of cases that could be considered.
Congressman Wolf introduced H.R. 2487, The Federal
Employees Leave Act of 1987, on May 20, 1987. The
bill would authorize a government-wide leave
sharing program for 5 years. The Subcommittee on
Compensation and Employee Benefits held a hearing
on H.R. 2487, on August 4, 1987. Subsequently,
Congressman Ackerman introduced H.R. 3757, the
Federal Employees Leave-Transfer Act of 1987, which
incorporates changes suggested at the hearing.
EXPLANATION: Section 1 of H.R. 3757 establishes the short title
of the bill as the "Federal Employees
Leave-Transfer Act of 1987".
Section 2 of the bill creates a new subchapter III
of chapter 63 of title 5, U.S. Code, to authorize
the transfer of annual leave to Federal employees
who have exhausted their sick and annual leave and
are facing a prolonged personal or medical
emergency.
Section 2 of the bill also establishes the criteria
for determining who may receive donated leave as
well as who may donate; the circumstances that
constitute a personal emergency; and restoration of
annual leave to the donors at the end of a personal
emergency.
This section also establishes three agency-wide
alternative leave-transfer experiments including
a leave fund, the transfer of sick leave as well as
annual leave, and the transfer of sick leave only
in cases where donations of annual leave prove
insufficient.
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This section authorizes the government-wide program
as well as the experimental programs for 3 years.
COST: A cost estimate has been requested from the
Congressional Budget Office.
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ACKERM061
AMENDMENTS TO H.R. 3757
OFFERED BY MR. ACKERMAN
Page 1, line 5, strike ?1987? and insert ''1988''
Page14, line 20, strike (A)(i) and insert
(? A)(ii) .
Page 18, line 2, strike the quotation marks and the last
period.
Page 18, after line 2, insert the following:
? S6344. Nonapplicability of certain provisions
? ?
Nothing in section 7351 shall apply with respect to a
solicitation, donation, or acceptance of leave under this
subchapter.?.
Page 18, after line 5, strike the closing quotation marks
and the last period in the item relating to section 6343 and
add after such item the following:
? 6344. Nonapplicability of certain provisions.''.
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ACKERM064
AMENDMENT TO H.R. 3757
OFFERED BY MR. ACKERMAN
Page 18, line 2, strike the quotation marks and the last
period.
Page 18, after line 2, insert the following:
1 S6344. Transfers within the Central Intelligence Agency
2 (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this
3 subchapter, neither the Central Intelligence Agency nor any
4 individual employed in or under the Central Intelligence
5 Agency may be included in a leave-transfer program
6 established under any of the preceding provisions of this
7 subchapter.
8 (b)(1) The Director of Central Intelligence shall, by
9 regulation, establish a program under which annual leave
10 accrued or accumulated by an employee of the Central
11 Intelligence Agency may be transferred to the annual-leave
12 account of any other employee of the Central Intelligence
13 Agency if such other employee requires additional leave
14 because of a personal emergency.
15 (2) To the extent practicable, and consistent with the
16 protection of intelligence sources and methods, the program
17 under this section shall be established--
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ACKERM064
1
2
(? A) in a manner consistent with the provisions of
2 this subchapter applicable to the program under sections
3 6331 through 6338 (including sections 6340 and 6343), but
4
(? B) without regard to any provisions relating to
5 transfers or restorations of leave between employees in
6 different agencies and the provisions of section 6338.
7
? (c) Not later than 6 months before the scheduled
8 termination date of the program under this section, the
9 Director of Central Intelligence shall submit a written
10 report to the President and the Congress with respect to the
11 operation of such program.
12 (? d) The Office of Personnel Management shall provide
13 the Director of Central Intelligence with such advice and
14 assistance as the Director may request in order to enable the
15 Director to carry out the purposes of this section.?.
Page 18, after line 5, strike the closing quotation marks
and the last period in the item relating to section 6343 and
add after such item the following:
''6344. Transfers within the Central Intelligence Agency.
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SUMMARY
H.R. 925
FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT
TITLE II
SOURCE
H.R. 925 was introduced by Rep. Clay on February 3, 1987. It was
referred jointly to the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service
and the Committee on Education and Labor. Only the provisions of
title II fall within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Post
Office and Civil Service, and the committee's consideration of the
bill is confined to these provisions. (Title I provides the
general requirements for family leave and temporary medical leave
for non-civil service employees; title III establishes a
commission on paid family and medical leave; and, title IV
contains miscellaneous provisions) H.R. 925 is similar to H.R.
4300 (H. Rpt. 99-699) which was approved by the Committee on Post
Office and Civil Service on June 11, 1986 (99th Congress) by a
record vote of 18 to O. On April 2, 1987, the Subcommittee on
Civil Service and the Subcommittee on Compensation and Employee
Benefits held a hearing on the bill. The Subcommittee on Civil
Service reported the bill without amendment on May 5, 1987. The
Subcommittee on Compensation and Employee Benefits reported the
bill on May 19, 1987 without amendment.
PURPOSE
Title II of H.R. 925 provides 18 weeks of job-protected family
leave without pay for Federal employees upon the birth, adoption
or serious health condition of a son, daughter, or parent. It
provides 26 weeks of job-protected medical leave without pay for
Federal employees who experience a serious health condition.
SUMMARY
Title II of H.R. 925 establishes a family and medical leave
program specifically for Federal employees. It entitles employees
to 18 weeks during any 24-month period of job-protected leave
without pay for the birth, adoption, placement for foster care or
serious illness of their child. In an addition to the bill from
the 99th Congress, H.R. 4300, employees may also take the leave
for the serious health condition of their parents. The bill
entitles Federal employees to take up to 26 weeks during any
12-month period of job-protected leave without pay for their own
serious health condition.
Both family leave and temporary medical leave are to be in
addition to any annual leave, sick leave, or other leave or
compensatory time off otherwise available to the employee. An
employee may choose to coordinate family leave or medical leave
with any other leave time available. An employee may take the
leave under a method involving a reduced workday, a reduced
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workweek, or some other alternative work schedule. The leave may
be taken on a continuing or intermittent basis or any combination
of the two.
Federal employees who use family or medical leave would be
entitled to be restored to the positions they held immediately
prior to taking leave. Any interference with an employee's right
to take family or medical leave, through coercion, intimidation,
or threat is prohibited.
H.R. 925 adds two provisions to help minimize any impact on the
agency. First, the employee is charged with providing, when
possible, prior notice to the agency of the leave to be taken and
with trying, when possible, to schedule the leave to accomodate
the needs of the employing agency. Second, in cases involving the
serious illness of the employee or the employee's child or parent,
the agency may require certification of the problem from the
health care provider.
Federal employees who are enrolled in a Federal employees health
insurance plan may continue their health insurance enrollment
while on family or medical leave by making arrangements to pay the
employee's contribution to the health benefits fund through their
employing agencies.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) will prescribe
regulations necessary for the administration of the family and
medical leave provisions.
BACKGROUND
Existing law (5 U.S.C. 6307) entitles Federal employees to sick
leave but provides no guarantee of time off for extended periods
of illness or injury. Similarly, there is no leave time available
for the serious illness of a parent or child, or for the birth or
adoption of a child. Leave without pay may be requested, but it
is granted at the discretion of the employing agency. There is no
certainty that the employee will receive the needed leave.
In a staff study conducted in the fall of 1985, the Subcommittee
on Civil Service found that some Federal agencies have developed
parental leave policy statements. Others have collective
bargaining agreements providing specific maternity or parental
leave benefits. Yet, all 53 Federal agencies responding to the
study left the final decisions involving maternity, paternity and
adoption leave up to the discretion of the supervisor concerned.
On July 8, 1986, the Office of Personnel Management issued "New
Personnel Guidance on Leave for Parental and Family
Responsibilities." This guidance does not change existing
personnel policy for Federal employees.
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ADMINISTRATION POSITION
The Administration opposed H.R. 925 as introduced.
COST
A cost estimate will be requested from the Congressional Budget
Office when the bill is ordered reported. However, in 1986, CBO
was unable to estimate the budgetary impact of title II of H.R.
4300 "because little information is available on current leave
practices for federal employees and on how agencies would function
if H.R. 4300 is enacted."
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EL906A
AMENDMENT TO H.R. 925
OFFERED BY MRS. SCHROEDER
Page 28, after line 22, insert the following:
1 (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this
2 section--
?
3 (1) a request for leave under this section based on
4 the birth of a child may not be granted if, or to the
5 extent that, such leave would be used after the end of
6 the 12-month period beginning on the date of such child's
7 birth; and
8 (2) a request for leave under this section based on
9 the placement for adOption or foster care of a child may
10 not be granted if, or to the extent that, such leave
11 would be used after the end of the 12-month period
12 beginning on the date on which such child is so placed.
Page 28, line 23, strike ?(d)(1)? and insert
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EL907A
11,
AMENDMENT To H.R. 925
OFFERED By MRs. ScHRoEDER
Page 31, line 2, strike ?subsection? and all that
follows thereafter, through ?6332? and insert ?section
6332(a)(3)?.
'11 PO
Page 31, line 6, strike employees child and insert
PP
'employees child .
Page 33, line 7, insert ?and? before ?subchapter?.
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