House committee hears H.33 to expand unpaid family and medical leave, add bereavement and ‘safe leave’

Representative Troy Hedrick on Jan. 22 brought House Bill 33 before the House General and Housing Committee, asking members to expand Vermont’s Parental and Family Leave Act to widen who may take unpaid family and medical leave and to add new categories including bereavement and a so-called “safe leave” for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking.

Hedrick summarized the bill’s purpose as “to expand access to unpaid family and medical leave,” and said it would both add new qualifying reasons for leave — bereavement, safe leave and qualifying military exigencies — and broaden the definition of “family member” to include non‑traditional and chosen families.

The bill’s principal legal explanations came from Sophie Zagadi of the Office of Legislative Counsel, who walked the committee through structure and thresholds. Zagadi said H.33 references existing federal law for military-related qualifying exigencies and otherwise amends the state Parental and Family Leave Act. She told the committee the bill would allow a covered employee up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for parental or family leave and permit up to 2 of those 12 weeks to be used for bereavement; it would also allow an additional period — up to 12 weeks in a 12‑month period — for safe leave. Zagadi described several employer and employee eligibility lines in the draft: safe leave would be available to employees who have been with the same employer for…