Married couples gain equal FMLA leave rights at same employer
S. 3321 — FAIR Leave Act · Filed by Joni Ernst (R-IA) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Dec 3, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill repeals Section 102(f) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, which currently imposes limits on leave for married couples employed by the same employer. The effect is to remove restrictions that prevent spouses working at the same company from taking the full amount of FMLA leave they would otherwise be entitled to individually.
Why we flagged it
The bill removes a restriction on worker leave rights, expanding FMLA protections for a specific class of employees (married couples at the same employer) by eliminating a spousal-status penalty.
What the text implies
- The bill's effect depends entirely on what Section 102(f) currently says — the text does not restate the provision being repealed. If Section 102(f) contains multiple restrictions (e.g., a cap on aggregate leave, a requirement to designate leave jointly, or a reduction in individual entitlements), repealing it removes all of them at once.
- Employers may need to revise leave-tracking and eligibility systems to accommodate spouses taking leave independently and potentially simultaneously, which could increase administrative burden.
- The bill does not address whether the repeal applies retroactively to leave already taken or denied under the old rule, leaving potential litigation risk.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Married employees at the same employer gain access to leave protections they would otherwise lose under current law. The repeal restores equal treatment: spouses can now take FMLA leave on the same terms as unmarried employees, removing a penalty for marital status.
Named in the bill
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, Section 102(f), Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.
- Dec 3, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Dec 3, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $670,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 50 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 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Joni Ernst, the sponsor, reported $342,120 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- National Education Association — $670,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 22, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (244 characters) on Aug 19, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 22, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Married couples gain equal FMLA leave rights at same employer” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s3321 Report an error
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