WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Sean Casten (D-IL-06) today reintroduced legislation to expand the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to cover 2.7 million education support professionals (ESPs) who are currently blocked from accessing FMLA benefits. The FMLA guarantees a segment of the workforce the ability to take unpaid leave to care for their newborns and sick loved ones without fear of losing their jobs. However, as a result of their schedules and the limited school year, many ESPs—including clerical support professionals, maintenance workers, janitorial staff, food service employees, bus drivers and others—fail to meet the 1,250-hour threshold needed to qualify for unpaid leave under the FMLA. Duckworth and Casten’s ESP, Paraprofessional, and Education Support Staff Family Leave Act would correct this by finally updating the FMLA to close this gap in federal law.
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“No one should ever have to choose between their job and caring for a sick child or family member—including our nation’s education support professionals,” said Senator Duckworth. “I’m proud to reintroduce this important legislation with Congressman Casten so we can work to close the loopholes that prevent many education support staff from accessing basic, hard-earned benefits through the Family and Medical Leave Act.”
“Gaps in FMLA coverage for the 2.7 million janitorial staff, food service workers, bus drivers, clerical support staff, and other public school employees mean that the very people we rely on to feed, transport, and support our students can be unfairly forced to choose between caring for their families and keeping their jobs,” said Rep. Casten. “I’m proud to introduce this bill with Senator Duckworth to improve and expand FMLA coverage to education support professionals.”
In addition to Duckworth and Casten, the bill is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ed Markey (D-MA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).
The bill has been endorsed by the American Federation for Teachers, the Center for Law and Social Policy, the National Education Association, the National Partnership for Women and Families, the Teamsters and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
Full text of the legislation is available on Senator Duckworth’s website.
