This bill, titled the "Part-Time Worker Bill of Rights Act," significantly expands eligibility for the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) by eliminating the current 12-month and 1,250-hour service requirements. Instead, it mandates that an employee becomes eligible for FMLA leave after just 90 days of employment with an employer. These changes also apply to various federal and state employees under related statutes and will take effect one year after enactment.

Beyond FMLA, the legislation aims to ensure fair treatment for part-time and temporary workers by prohibiting discrimination based on hours worked. Employers are forbidden from treating employees differently in areas such as rate of compensation, notice of work hours, eligibility for benefits, and promotion opportunities, provided their jobs require substantially equal skill, effort, responsibility, and duties. However, differences based on factors like hire date, merit systems, or production-based earnings are still permitted.

A key provision requires employers to obtain written statements from employees regarding their desired weekly work hours and availability. Employers must then offer these desired hours to existing employees before hiring new staff or engaging contractors to perform such work. Exceptions exist if no existing employees are available, lack necessary qualifications, or if scheduling them would incur overtime compensation.

If an existing employee is not scheduled for their desired hours, but a new hire or contractor works those hours, the existing employee must be compensated for each hour worked by the new staff, subject to certain exceptions. The bill also prohibits employers from interfering with employees' rights, retaliating against those who exercise their rights, or obstructing investigations.

Enforcement mechanisms include investigative authority for the Secretary of Labor, mandatory record-keeping by employers, and the right for employees to bring civil actions for damages, interest, and equitable relief. Employers face civil penalties for willful violations, with the Secretary also empowered to bring actions on behalf of aggrieved employees. Various federal agencies are tasked with issuing regulations to implement these new protections.