3 U.S.C. § 412 — Rights and protections under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993

(a) FMLA rights extended. The rights and protections in sections 101 through 105 of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 apply to covered employees under this chapter. For this purpose, "employer" means any employing office, and "eligible employee" means a covered employee who has worked for an employing office for 12 months and for at least 1,250 hours during the prior 12 months. But that 1,250-hour and 12-month requirement doesn't apply to leave taken for the birth or care of a newborn child, or for the placement of an adopted or foster child, under section 102(a)(1)(A) or (B) of the FMLA. (b) Remedy. If subsection (a) is violated, the covered employee can get whatever remedy — including liquidated damages — would be available under section 107(a)(1) of the Family and Medical Leave Act. (c) Substituting paid leave. A covered employee can choose to substitute paid leave they already have for what would otherwise be unpaid FMLA leave under section 102(a)(1)(A) or (B) (leave for a new child). The paid leave available for this swap is the same type and amount a federal employee could substitute under section 6382(d)(2)(B) of title 5 for leave without pay under section 6382(a)(1) of that title. This substitution must follow the same rules as section 6382(d)(2) of title 5 — except that a reference there to an "employing agency" means "employing office" here, and the subparagraph (E) exception in that section doesn't apply. (d) Regulations. The President, or the President's designee, must issue regulations implementing this whole section. Those regulations must generally match the substantive rules the Secretary of Labor already uses to implement the FMLA provisions referenced in subsections (a) and (b) — except the President or designee can modify them for good cause shown alongside the regulation, can instead apply the executive-branch leave rules in subchapter V of chapter 63 of title 5 if doing so would work just as well and promote consistency across the executive branch, and must issue regulations implementing the paid-leave-substitution rule in subsection (c) as that subsection requires. (e) Effective date. Subsections (a) and (b) take effect on whichever comes first: the effective date of the regulations issued under subsection (c) (as it existed when the Presidential and Executive Office Accountability Act was enacted), or October 1, 1998.