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All federal employees would have access to two weeks of paid parental bereavement leave under legislation that passed the House Tuesday.
The provision, which NTEU endorsed, is contained in the bipartisan compromise version of the National Defense Authorization Act and is expected to pass the Senate.
The bereavement leave would give civilian federal workers and military servicemembers up to 14 days of paid leave in the event of the death of their child.
The bill would also restore, starting in 2023, the one-year probationary period for new civilian employees in the Department of Defense. Since 2016, new DOD employees were subjected to two-year probationary periods.
Separately, the House also approved legislation that will make it easier to increase the debt ceiling and avoid a catastrophic government default and potential furloughs of federal employees. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that the federal government could run out of the ability to borrow more money as early as December 15. If Congress fails to either raise or suspend the debt ceiling, the Treasury will be unable to continue paying for previously approved spending.
The debt ceiling legislation, also reached after bipartisan compromise, would allow the Senate to pass legislation to address the debt limit this time with a simple majority vote instead of 60 votes.