Last week Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced the Military Family Leave Act of 2009 (S. 1441), a bill that would grant military family members temporary annual leave for the member's deployment. Specifically, the legislation would allow the spouse, child or parent of a member of the uniformed services to take up to two weeks of annual leave from his or her job if the service member receives notice of an impending call or order to active duty in support of a contingency operation, or is deployed in connection with a contingency operation. This leave could be taken intermittently or on a reduced leave schedule. The employee would be entitled to two workweeks of leave for each military family member called to active duty. The employee could elect – but the employer could not insist upon – the substitution of accrued paid time off for the leave provided for under this legislation. An employer may require, however, that certification to support the family member’s military situation be provided in a timely manner.

This bill also prevents an employer from terminating or otherwise discriminating against an employee who takes such military family leave, and compels the reinstatement of the employee to his or her position (or an equivalent one) without loss of benefits upon returning to work.

This bill, which adds a new chapter to Part III of title 38 of the U.S. Code, has been referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.