Freight Rail Workforce Health and Safety Act
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.
Freight Rail Workforce Health and Safety Act
This bill requires Class I railroad carriers to provide employees with at least seven days of paid sick leave per calendar year.
Other forms of accrued leave or unpaid leave (e.g., personal days and vacation) do not count as days of paid sick leave. An employee's unused paid sick leave must carry over annually on January 1.
An employee must be permitted to use paid sick leave for reasons including
a physical or mental illness, injury, or medical condition;
obtaining diagnosis, care, or preventive care;
caring for the child, parent, spouse, or domestic partner of an employee, or other related individual; or
an absence resulting from domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
An employee must request leave seven days in advance for foreseeable leave and as soon as practicable for unforeseeable requests. Use of leave cannot be contingent on the requesting employee finding a replacement to cover any work time to be missed.
Further, a railroad carrier may not retaliate against an employee (e.g., dismiss, suspend, discipline, or deny promotion) for requesting the use of or having used paid sick leave.
The bill includes an enforcement provision prohibiting the Department of Transportation from approving a mandatory plan under the Risk Reduction Program for any railroad carrier that has not complied with the bill's paid sick leave requirements.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on May 11, 2023. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on May 12, 2023: Referred to the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Donald Payne (D-NJ) introduced it on May 11, 2023, and 53 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 53 Democrats.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on May 11, 2023, 1218 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 1217 days ago, on May 12, 2023.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 118th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2025 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers