Congress·In Committee·H.R. 7505

Flexible Leave Act

House Bill Would Give Workers Right to Take FMLA Leave on Flexible Schedules

Feb 11·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

Next up: A house committee

The Flexible Leave Act is currently in the committee stage where it was sent on February 10, 2026. No action has been taken on the bill since that date, which means it has been stalled for four months. The House committees must review the bill before it can move forward, but most bills do not receive a vote at this stage.

Legislative Progress

House

Senate

President

Law

Key Points

This bill changes the rules for the Family and Medical Leave Act, the law that protects your job when you take unpaid time off for things like a new baby or a serious illness.
Right now, if you want to take your leave a few hours at a time instead of all at once, your employer usually has to agree to it. This bill would give workers the right to use their leave flexibly for any reason, including bonding with a new child.
The plan also cuts down on paperwork by removing the rule that requires a doctor to provide extra certification specifically to prove why a flexible or part-time schedule is needed.
This change would mostly help new parents or people caring for sick family members who need to balance work and home life without losing their entire paycheck for months at a time.
While this gives workers more control, some businesses may find it harder to manage staff schedules if employees are coming and going in smaller bursts of time rather than taking one long break.

Labor Employment

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

Scores run from -100 (strongly harmful) to +100 (strongly beneficial) for each group, combining impact, certainty, scope, and duration ratings of 1-5. How impact scoring works

Life & Work

Small businesses covered by FMLA (those with 50+ employees) could face greater scheduling challenges if workers can take leave in small, unpredictable increments without needing employer agreement or extra medical certification. Planning shifts and coverage becomes harder when employees may be coming and going on irregular schedules rather than taking one continuous block of leave.

-2

ImpactCertaintyScopeDurationSentiment

-2

ImpactCertaintyScopeDurationSentiment

Disabilities

Broader Impacts

DomainScoreShort-termLong-termReversibilityConfidence

Score

Scores: -5 (harmful) to +5 (beneficial)Short-term: 0-2 yearsLong-term: 10-30 years

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Feb 11, 2026House

Referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, and House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.

Feb 11, 2026

Introduced in House

The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.

Related News

2 articles

Bloomberg Law·Dec 14, 2023

GOP Bill Would Let Parents Take FMLA Leave Intermittently

The Flexible Leave Act would permit employees to take FMLA leave intermittently or on a reduced schedule for the birth or adoption of a child without needing employer approval. Current law allows intermittent leave for medical reasons but requires employer consent for bonding leave.

Center

Washington Examiner·Dec 13, 2023

Michelle Steel introduces bill to give parents more flexibility with unpaid leave

Rep. Michelle Steel's legislation focuses on modernizing family leave by removing the 'employer-veto' on flexible schedules for new parents. The bill aims to reduce administrative burdens by cutting out redundant medical paperwork for those seeking to use their leave in smaller increments.

Right

No votes or related bills recorded for this bill yet.

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

Flexible Leave Act

Bill NumberHR 7505

Congress119th Congress

ChamberHouse of Representatives

Latest ActionReferred to the Committee on Education and Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, and House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Data Sources

Congress.gov

Official legislative information

Read Full Bill Text

Sponsor

Cosponsors

(1)

R: 1

Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.