42 U.S.C. § 19151 — Federal research agency policies for caregivers

(a) OSTP guidance: Not later than 12 months after August 9, 2022, the Director, working with the heads of relevant agencies, must give guidance to each federal research agency to establish policies that: (1) apply to all (A) research awards granted by the agency, and (B) principal investigators of that research and their trainees — including postdoctoral researchers and graduate students — who have caregiving responsibilities, including care for a newborn or newly adopted child and care for an immediate family member with a disability or serious health condition; and (2) provide, to the extent feasible, (A) flexibility in the timing for starting approved research awards; (B) no-cost extensions of those research awards; (C) award supplements, as appropriate, to sustain research activities; and (D) any other appropriate accommodation, at the discretion of each agency's director. (b) Uniformity of guidance: In giving this guidance, the Director must encourage uniformity and consistency, to the extent practicable, in the policies established across all federal research agencies. (c) Establishment of policies: Consistent, to the extent practicable, with the guidance under (a), federal research agencies must: (1) maintain, or develop and implement, policies for the individuals described in (a)(1)(B); and (2) broadly share those policies, in easily accessible formats, with current and potential award recipients. (d) Data on usage: Federal research agencies must consider: (1) collecting data — including demographic data that can be broken down by sex, geographic location, and socioeconomic indicators, which may include employment status, occupation, educational attainment, parental education, and income — on how much the policies under (c) are used, at both colleges and federal laboratories; and (2) reporting that data annually to the Director, in the form the Director requires.