House General and Housing committee signals opposition to amendment creating new employer exemption to unpaid-leave job protections

Members of the House General and Housing Committee on March 20, 2025, signaled opposition in a straw poll to an amendment to H.1461 that would create a new employer exemption to the statute that protects an employee’s right to return to a job after unpaid leave.

Representative Anne Donahue, the amendment’s proponent, told the committee the change would add "an exemption to holding a job open for someone" and would require "clear and convincing evidence demonstrated by the employer" that filling the job was impossible and that doing so was the only option to "prevent substantial and grievous economic injury" to the employer’s operation. "This is not an easy lift to be able to use an exemption," Donahue said.

The amendment was presented as narrowing language…