Senate committee hears fixes to unpaid-leave bill after pilots, advocates raise coverage gaps

Senator Allison Clarkson, chairing the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs, heard Tuesday from airline and advocacy witnesses who urged changes to House Bill 4 61 (H.461) to make unpaid leave usable for pilots, flight attendants and survivors of domestic violence.

The Airline Pilots Association’s senior legislative representative, David Martin, told the committee that under the bill’s current hours-accrual formula a pilot or flight attendant “is extremely unlikely” to qualify because “pilots’ hours are calculated only for the hours we are in flight.” He said: “So when people see that a flight attendant or pilot works 70 hours to a hundred hours maybe a month, you know, that's...that's the way our hours are calculated contractually.”

The issue matters because federal rules and industry pay structures mean many flight hours (pre‑flight, layovers and standby) are not counted toward accrual formulas used in some leave laws. Martin said the Association seeks language modeled on federal guidance (29 CFR 825.801) that other states have adopted so that aviation workers can “avail ourselves to the benefits of the unpaid leave program.” He added the association represents about “a little bit north of a hundred” pilots based in Vermont and that similar fixes have passed recently in Minnesota and Michigan.

Why it matters: committee members heard that, without a technical change to how hours are defined, Vermont‑based pilots and cabin crew who meet federal safety cap rules (Martin noted FAA limits such as approximate caps on flight hours) could be excluded in practice from H.461’s leave protections even when they face the same family or medical events as other workers.

Advocates: Johanna Gradner, public policy manager for Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility, said VBSR supports H.461’s expansion of unpaid family and medical leave and highlighted three additions she urged the committee to keep or strengthen: explicit coverage for LGBTQIA employees and families, naming miscarriage as a covered medical event, and adding unpaid “safe leave” for survivors of domestic violence, assault and stalking. “The proposed coverage expansion in H.461 is a crucial step toward addressing paid family medical needs of working LGBTQIA Vermonters,” she said, citing a Williams Institute estimate that about 19,000 Vermonters identified as LGBTQIA in 2020.

Charley Glasser (policy director, Vermont Network) summarized recommended drafting changes to the safe-leave language: she suggested the bill rely on the civil definitions used for relief-from-abuse or protective-order statutes rather than the criminal definitions currently referenced, and recommended removing court‑hearing leave language that duplicates an existing court‑leave statute. “Survivors deserve time to heal and access support and safety…without fear of losing their jobs,” Glasser said, noting a local service provider’s example of a caregiver who needed repeated time off to support a child through forensic exams, hearings and therapy.

Committee response and next steps: legislative counsel and staff confirmed they had the witnesses’ suggested language under review. Sophie Zadatnay, legislative counsel, and Heidi Parker (committee staff) both indicated they were newly reviewing submitted edits during the hearing. Chair Clarkson said the committee will schedule the bill for additional testimony and redrafting and indicated the unpaid-leave hearing will be resumed next Wednesday to allow further technical work and additional witnesses (including representatives of cabin crews).

What the committee did not do: there was no formal vote on H.461 at this meeting. Members instead requested targeted draft language and asked staff to return with revisions that would clarify definitions and inclusion criteria, particularly the hours accrual language for aviation employees.

Ending: Committee members thanked witnesses for specific drafting suggestions and promised follow‑up; the hearing was continued so the committee can consider revised language and additional testimony on H.461 at a future session.