Members of Congress introduce the Reproductive Healthcare Leave Act

04/08/2026

Employees would get 12 days of paid leave

On March 31, members of Congress introduced first-of-its-kind legislation (HR 8158) regarding paid leave. If passed into law, it would require employers with five or more employees who worked 20 or more calendar workweeks in the current or preceding year to provide paid leave for certain reproductive health care reasons.

The Reproductive Healthcare Leave Act would require covered employers to give employees paid leave for absences related to reproductive conditions.

Employers would need to give employees 12 days (96 hours) of paid leave on their first workday of each calendar year. The paid leave wouldn’t, however, carry over from one calendar year to the next.

Reasons for leave

Employees could take leave for a medical or surgical procedure related to human reproductive health. This would involve any physical or mental symptom related to such a procedure or any reproductive health condition, including:

  • Menstruation
  • Endometriosis
  • Dysmenorrhea
  • Adenomyosis
  • Ovarian cysts
  • Menopause
  • Perimenopause

Employees could also take leave to obtain medical care, have a medical procedure, or get a preventative screening related to reproductive health, including fertility treatments, termination of pregnancies, hysterectomies, and vasectomies.

Notices

If the Reproductive Healthcare Leave Act gets passed into law, employers would need to allow employees to use paid leave upon request. Such a request (either verbal or written) must:

  • Include the expected duration of the leave, and
  • Be provided as soon as practicable.

Employers would need to notify employees about the law, and include in employee handbooks information on:

  • The protections employees have in exercising rights,
  • Filing actions, and
  • How employees can contact the appropriate authority if any of their rights are violated.

Employers would also need to post a related notice.

Employers that already give employees paid leave that meets the law’s requirements wouldn’t have to give employees additional paid leave.

The measure is only in the first step of the legislative process, but it indicates a continued interest in paid leave legislation.

Key to remember: 

Members of Congress continue to explore ways to provide employees with leave, including paid leave, for various reasons.

This article was written by Darlene M. Clabault, SHRM-CP, PHR, CLMS, of J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. The content of these news items, in whole or in part, MAY NOT be copied into any other uses without consulting the originator of the content.

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