Congress·In Committee·S. 437

Congress proposes expanded job-protected leave to cover more family caregivers and school activities

Caring for All Families Act

Part of: Congress Proposes Expanding FMLA to Chosen Family and School Activities

⏸

Stalled

No legislative action in over 90 days.

↔Companion bill: Congress proposes expanding job-protected leave to cover more relatives and add limited time for school activities

Legislative Progress

Senate

House

President

Law

Key Points

Expands job-protected family leave so workers can care for more people, including a domestic partner, parent-in-law, adult child, and certain other relatives.
Also lets workers take leave to care for someone who feels like family, even without a legal or biological relationship, if there is a close family-like bond.
Creates a new, limited leave option for parents and grandparents to attend school or community activities and handle routine family health needs.
Sets limits for this new leave: up to 4 hours in a 30-day period and up to 24 hours in a 12-month period, and it can be taken in small chunks.
Applies these changes both to many private-sector workers covered by federal family leave law and to federal employees under similar rules.

Labor Employment

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

How this policy affects specific groups of people

Positive Impacts(4)

Child Tax Credit

Helps

Chronic Illness

Helps

Disability Benefits

Helps

Federal Employee

Helps

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Feb 5, 2025Senate

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text: CR S668-671)

Feb 5, 2025

Introduced in Senate

What Happens Next

Projected impacts based on AI analysis

After enactment (once the law takes effect)

If Congress passes the bill and the President signs it, the expanded list of family relationships becomes valid for FMLA leave requests.

Workers could request job-protected leave to care for a domestic partner, in-laws, adult children, and other covered relatives (and some “like family” relationships) when there is a serious health condition.

After enactment

If enacted, workers gain a new annual bank of parental involvement and family wellness leave (up to 24 hours per year, with a 4-hours-per-30-days cap).

Parents and grandparents could take small blocks of protected time for school events, youth activities, routine appointments, and certain elder-care tasks without needing a full FMLA case.

In the months after enactment

Employers update HR policies, request forms, and tracking systems for new family definitions and the new 24-hour leave category.

You may see new paperwork options (for example, “domestic partner” or “parent-in-law”) and more structured time-tracking for short absences.

After enactment, once agency guidance is updated

Federal agencies implement the same expanded family coverage and the new 24-hour parental involvement/family wellness leave for federal employees.

Federal workers would have clearer permission to use leave for more relatives and to use small blocks of protected time for school and routine care needs.

Related Bills

1 bill

H.R. 1002Identical bill

Caring for All Families Act

Feb 5 — 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.