SAFE for Survivors Act

Full Title:
SAFE for Survivors Act of 2026

Summary#

The SAFE for Survivors Act of 2026 creates new federal protections and supports for people who experience domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, trafficking, intimate-image abuse, and other gender-based violence (called "qualifying acts of violence"). Key provisions in the bill include:

  • Safe leave: Employers must provide employees at least 40 work days of leave in a 12-month period for needs related to a qualifying act of violence. At least 10 of those days must be paid; the rest may be unpaid unless an employee substitutes other leave. Leave may be taken intermittently. Uses include getting medical care, legal help, counseling, shelter or housing actions, childcare, financial services, and other safety or recovery steps.
  • Reinstatement and benefits: Employees who take leave are generally entitled to be restored to their job or an equivalent job and to continued group health coverage for the leave period.
  • Privacy and limited certification: Employers may request certification for leave longer than 3 workdays but must limit the information requested to the minimum needed. Employee information must be kept confidential and stored separately.
  • Anti-retaliation and enforcement: Employers may not interfere with or retaliate against employees who use or request leave. Affected individuals may sue employers; the Secretary of Labor may investigate and sue. Remedies include lost wages, liquidated damages, and civil penalties.
  • Arbitration: Predispute arbitration agreements and class-action waivers cannot be enforced for claims under the safe leave, employment protections, or insurance protections in this Act.
  • Employment protections (Survivors' Employment Sustainability Act): The bill bars employers from discriminating or retaliating against people because they are (or are perceived to be) victims. It requires employers and public agencies to consider reasonable accommodations and safety procedures unless they cause undue hardship. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and related agencies will issue regulations.
  • Unemployment compensation: States may not deny unemployment benefits solely because a person voluntarily left work if the separation was due to being a victim of a qualifying act of violence. States may set documentation standards; the bill lists acceptable proof and requires training for unemployment staff. Some federal training grants are authorized.
  • Insurance protections: Insurers may not deny, cancel, limit, or surcharge coverage because someone is a victim of qualifying violence, nor limit claims arising from such violence. Insurers must adopt protocols to protect victims' safety and privacy, limit use of victim information, and cannot subrogate claims from a qualifying act of violence without the victim's informed consent. The Federal Trade Commission enforces these provisions; individuals also have private rights of action and may recover statutory damages or actual damages.
  • Support and education: The bill reauthorizes and amends workplace resource grants, directs a national public outreach and employer information campaign, requires a study of workplace responses, and increases certain public health funding for victim services.

What it means for you#

  • If you are an employee who is a victim (or has a family or household member who is a victim): You would be entitled to up to 40 work days of leave in a year for many safety and recovery needs. At least 10 of those days must be paid. Your employer must keep related information confidential, may not retaliate, and must generally restore your job and health coverage after leave.

  • If you are an employer: You must provide the leave, protect employee privacy, and may face investigations, civil suits, damages, and penalties for violations. You may require limited certification for leave longer than 3 workdays and must consider reasonable accommodations unless they cause undue hardship.

  • If you apply for unemployment after leaving work because of violence: States must allow benefits when separation is tied to qualifying violence if the applicant provides sufficient documentation as the State allows. Unemployment staff must receive training related to these cases.

  • If you are an insured person who is a victim: Insurers are restricted from denying or limiting coverage or using a victim's status or contact information in ways that could harm safety. Insurance companies must follow written safety and privacy procedures; victims may sue for violations.

Expenses#

  • Authorized or specified funding and limits in the bill include:

    • Title I: For the National Resource Center grants under the Violence Against Women Act, the Attorney General may use no more than 2.5% of annual appropriations for administration and the Office on Violence Against Women may use no more than 5% for program evaluations.
    • Title IV/Section 401: The Secretary of Labor may award grants to victim services organizations to develop model training materials; the bill authorizes "such sums as may be necessary" for FY2027 to carry out that grant program.
    • Title V/Section 512: Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act appropriation level to $15,000,000 for each fiscal year 2027 through 2031.

  • Monetary penalties and damages specified in the bill include:

    • Employer liability for violations of safe leave: damages equal to the greater of $1,000 or lost wages/benefits, interest, and liquidated damages equal to the amount and interest (with judicial discretion to reduce if employer acted in good faith).
    • Employer civil monetary penalty: $1,000 per violation, payable to the Secretary of Labor.
    • Public agency damages for discrimination in public benefits: value of denied benefits plus punitive damages up to $100,000.
    • Insurer violations: private actions may recover compensatory and punitive damages, costs, and attorney fees; an aggrieved individual may elect statutory damages of $5,000 per violation instead of actual damages.

  • No public estimate of total federal cost, budgetary offset, or long-term fiscal effect is included in the bill text: No publicly available information.

Proponents' View#

The bill's findings explain why sponsors propose these measures: gender-based violence is widespread, it harms survivors' health and safety, and it often causes job loss, lost earnings, housing instability, and other economic harms. The bill argues that helping survivors with leave, job protections, unemployment access, insurance privacy and coverage, and public education will improve survivors' safety and economic independence.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.