An amendment in the nature of a substitute to provide a hiring preference to employees who leave their jobs to meet family responsibilities. This substitute permits employees to take up to six years of unpaid leave for the birth or adoption of a child, or up to two years to care for a seriously ill member of the immediate family, and still be reinstated into their previous job or a similar one, provided such a position is available. If no such position is available, the Stenholm substitute provides that the employer must offer the employee the first equivalent position that becomes available during the next year. The Stenholm substitute does not protect employees jobs; does not require employers to continue health benefits while the employee is away on leave; does not permit the employee to use the leave as "medical leave" if he or she is temporarily unable to perform the job.