Congress moves to guarantee paid sick leave for 56 hours yearly

What it does

This bill requires employers with 1+ employees to provide workers with at least 1 hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked (capped at 56 hours/year unless the employer chooses higher), usable for the employee's own health needs, family care, or absences related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. The bill covers private employers, federal agencies, Congress, and state/local governments receiving federal funds, with enforcement through the Department of Labor and private lawsuits.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core mechanism is a straightforward labor standard: employers must accrue and permit use of paid sick time. It is not a subsidy, tax carve-out, or deregulation—it is a worker protection that imposes a cost on employers and a benefit on employees.

What the text implies

• The bill's definition of 'domestic partner' and inclusion of same-sex relationships in paid-leave protections may face legal challenge in some jurisdictions, creating uncertainty for employers and workers in states with hostile family-law frameworks.
• Employers with existing paid-leave policies that meet the threshold can offset the mandate, creating a two-tier system where workers at companies with generous policies gain nothing while those at minimal-benefit employers gain the full 56 hours—potentially widening inequality within the same sector.
• The 60-day waiting period before first use (though employers may loan time early) may disadvantage workers in precarious employment or those with immediate health crises in the first two months of a job.
• Certification requirements for absences >3 consecutive workdays, while privacy-protected, may deter workers from using sick time for mental health, domestic violence, or stigmatized conditions due to disclosure burden or fear of employer judgment despite legal protections.
• The bill applies to employers with 1+ employee for 20+ workweeks, but does not address gig workers, independent contractors, or informal-economy workers—leaving a large segment of the workforce unprotected.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Ordinary workers gain a new, enforceable right to paid sick leave—a concrete protection that reduces financial hardship when illness or family crisis strikes and removes the false choice between health and income. The bill includes strong anti-retaliation provisions, private right of action, and attorney's fees, making enforcement accessible. Employers retain flexibility (carryover caps, scheduling coordination, existing-policy offsets) and the threshold (1+ employees) is broad but not onerous.

Named in the bill

Department of Labor, Secretary of Labor, Government Accountability Office, Library of Congress, Congressional Accountability Act of 1995, Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, Violence Against Women Act of 1994, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Merit Systems Protection Board, Office of Personnel Management, Office of Compliance

Where it stands

156 cosponsors: 156 Democrats.

• Feb 12, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Feb 12, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and House Committee on House Administration · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on House…”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

4 lobbying clients named this bill on 5 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $1,910,905 in lobbying spend. A filing names 13 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 72% of bills with at least one filing.

Rosa DeLauro, the sponsor, reported $624,463 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Bank Policy Institute — $1,130,000 on 2 filings
• Int'l Ass'n of Sheet Metal Air Rail & Transp Workers Transp Div — $470,905 on 1 filing
• United Automobile Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers — $230,000 on 1 filing
• Bank Policy Institute (fka the Financial Services Roundtable) — $80,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.