Interstate Paid Leave Action Network

(a) In general (1) Establishment There is established an Interstate Paid Leave Action Network the purpose of which is to provide support and incentives for the development and adoption of an interstate agreement in accordance with this title to benefit employees, States, and employers by— (A) facilitating streamlined benefit delivery; (B) reducing administrative burden; and (C) coordinating and harmonizing State programs. (2) Membership The I–PLAN shall include a State focal from each State receiving a conforming grant under section 204(a). (3) Meetings The I–PLAN shall meet not less than 3 times in each calendar year. (4) Processes (A) Certification States shall certify to the Secretary their participation in the I–PLAN. (B) Procedures State focals may determine, in coordination with the Secretary, the process for the following: (i) the order in which States approach the substance of each I–PLAN requirement; (ii) the process by which States reach consensus on such substance and agree to the I–PLAN Agreement; (iii) the process by which a State may leave the I–PLAN; and (iv) other processes relevant to the success and administration of the I–PLAN as the Secretary determines. (5) Roadmap The I–PLAN shall develop, and annually update, a roadmap for developing and implementing the interstate agreement described in subsection (b) including metrics for success. (b) Duties The duty of the I–PLAN shall be to produce an interstate agreement into which States offering a State paid family and medical leave program may enter and to periodically update such agreement as necessary to improve clarity and scope. Such agreement shall be publicly available and pursue each of the following requirements: (1) Policy standard Create a single policy standard with respect to all participating States to facilitate easier compliance with and understanding of paid leave programs across States, including definitions for the following: (A) Benefit day, week, and year. (B) Base period. (C) Intermittent and reduced schedule leave. (D) Place of performance. (E) Family members. (F) Employee eligibility. (G) Employee coverage. (H) Waiting period. (I) Covered wage. (2) Administrative standard Create a single administrative standard with respect to all participating States to facilitate easier compliance with and understanding of paid leave programs across States, including— (A) the process by which employers respond to requests from States to verify and provide employee information for eligibility determinations, including wages and work history; (B) the process by which employers provide periodic and permanent notice of the availability of paid leave under a State program or employer plan to employees; (C) employees’ responsibility to provide notices of leave to their employers; (D) timing of and process for collecting payroll contributions; (E) coordinating with other types of paid time off and leaves of absence; (F) continuing other benefits; (G) accessing employee leave information; (H) protecting personal information; (I) creating and updating written leave materials such as handbooks; (J) maintaining records and documentation; and (K) if a State program permits employers to elect to provide employer plans, facilitating such election, including by creating a single equivalency standard with respect to all participating States to determine whether the maximum monetary value of an employer plan for the average weekly wage of workers in the State for total covered establishments in all industries (based on the most recent calendar year for which data are available from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program of the BLS) is greater than or equal to the maximum monetary value of a State program (or that of multiple States), taking into account programmatic elements such as— (i) how benefit duration, wage replacement, absence of a weekly benefit cap, absence of a waiting week, and other factors interact in a quantitative manner; and (ii) how an individual taking paid family and medical leave for a qualifying reason affects the ability of such individual to take paid family and medical leave for another qualifying reason. (3) Coordination of benefits across State programs Create a single process for State programs to process claims for an individual who has work history across multiple participating States so that a single State program may provide benefits to such individual on the basis of all such work history.