# What This Bill Does

This bill protects military members from being penalized in their job evaluations when they take parental leave. Right now, when a service member takes the 12 weeks of paid parental leave that Congress approved in 2022—whether for a new birth, adoption, or foster placement—there's no clear rule preventing their commanding officers from giving them lower performance ratings because they were away. This bill fixes that problem by requiring the military to officially exempt service members from performance evaluations whenever they take more than 31 consecutive days of parental leave.

The concern behind this bill is straightforward: if taking parental leave could hurt your career evaluations, many military parents might skip it entirely, even though they're legally entitled to it. By protecting their evaluations during this time, the bill removes that barrier and lets parents actually use the leave Congress gave them without worrying about damaging their military record or promotion prospects.

The bill also makes it easier for military parents to use their leave flexibly. Currently, if a service member wants to use parental leave beyond the first year after birth or adoption, they have to jump through extra hoops and request a waiver. The new rule would let parents spread out their 12 weeks of leave over a two-year period without needing special permission, giving families more flexibility in how they use the time. The Secretary of Defense has 180 days to write the official regulations making all of this happen and must report back to Congress on how it's being implemented.

Protecting Military Parental Leave Evaluations Act

Bice, Stephanie I.

Protecting Military Parental Leave Evaluations ActThis bill requires the Department of Defense to prescribe regulations regarding parental leave policies for members of the Armed Forces across all branches.Specifically, the regulations must (1) exempt a member from a performance evaluation when such member is taking parental leave that exceeds 31 consecutive days; and (2) authorize a member (without a waiver) to take leave during the two-year period after the birth of a child, adoption of a child, or placement of a minor child in the custody of such member.