Committee reviews expanded family-and-medical-leave draft adding safe leave and bereavement provisions

Members of a legislative committee heard detailed explanations and public-comment concerns Tuesday about a draft state family-and-medical-leave bill that would add "safe leave" and bereavement provisions, broaden the statutory definition of "family," and set documentation and confidentiality rules for employers.

The Office of Legislative Counsel outlined the bill’s text and edits, and Megan Sullivan, vice president of government affairs for the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, testified on behalf of the business community. Sophie Sedatny of the Office of Legislative Counsel led the committee through definitions and operative sections and answered questions about employer thresholds, permissible documentation, confidentiality and job-protection exceptions.

The draft would permit an eligible employee to take unpaid leave up to 12 weeks during any 12-month period and explicitly lists parental leave, family leave, safe leave and qualifying exigency leave as covered categories. "Subsection 2 on page 8...clarifies that for bereavement leave, an employee may use up to 2 out of the…