On March 25, the Family Leave Insurance Act of 2009 was introduced in the House of Representatives.  The bill would implement a family leave insurance program providing certain employees up to 12 weeks of paid family leave in a 12 month period.  The bill would require employers of 2 or more employees to provide paid leave to employees who had worked a minimum of 625 hours in the 6 months prior to seeking leave.  Leave would generally be provided for the same reasons as allowed under the FMLA.  The leave would be paid for via contributions from the employee and employer.  Employee benefits would be determined based upon an employee’s salary. Those with smaller incomes would receive a greater percentage of their salaries.   The bill is currently in committee and its fate is uncertain especially given the current economic issues.