Bill > HR5161

This bill, the Expanding Small Employer Pooling Options for Paid Family Leave Act of 2021, aims to expand small employer pooling options to provide paid family and medical leave. The key provisions of the bill include: 1. Amending the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to allow multi-employer and small business pooling and cost-sharing, such as through multiple employer welfare arrangements, for the purpose of providing paid family and medical leave benefits, including through the use of short-term disability insurance. 2. Amending the Internal Revenue Code to include "disability, paid family and medical leave" as a permitted benefit under tax-exempt voluntary employee benefits associations. 3. Directing the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of the Treasury to issue coordinated regulations to implement and ensure compliance with these changes, and to provide recommendations for further statutory or regulatory changes to facilitate small business pooling and cost-sharing for paid family and medical leave benefits. The goal of the bill is to make it easier for small employers to offer paid family and medical leave benefits to their employees through pooled arrangements and cost-sharing mechanisms.