On May 28, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek signed Senate Bill 1108, which, effective Jan. 1, expands the reasons why employees can use legally required paid sick leave to include blood donation connected with a voluntary program approved or accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks or the American Red Cross. As a result, Oregon will join San Francisco on the list of locations with mandatory paid-sick-leave laws that allow employees to use leave for donation purposes (in San Francisco, paid sick leave is usable for bone marrow or organ donation).
The amendments are Oregon’s second donation-related covered use for paid sick leave. Currently under Oregon law, donating paid sick leave to another employee so they can use leave is a permitted reason. Though many paid-sick-leave laws discuss employees’ voluntarily donating sick leave, Oregon’s is the only one that expressly counts donated leave against the annual amount of leave a donating employee can use under the law. Oregon’s amendments, along with other recent covered use amendments in neighboring Washington state (on immigration proceedings and safe accommodations for hate-crime victims), are another reminder that navigating mandatory paid-leave laws is anything but a simple task. Even though the summer has just begun, employers may soon want to start their year-end policy update checklist.
Sebastian Chilco is knowledge management counsel with Littler in San Francisco. Stephanie L. Mills-Gallan is an attorney with...
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