Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Paid Leave Organ Donation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee amends and forwards bill extending paid leave protections to living organ donors
Summary
HB 338 would expand the existing paid leave framework for bone marrow donors to include living organ donors; committee adopted an amendment capping mandatory paid leave at 40 hours unless employer agrees to more, and referred the measure to Labor committee for further vetting of employment implications.
BATON ROUGE — The House Health and Welfare Committee on May 8 debated HB 338, which would extend a paid‑leave protection currently available for bone‑marrow donation to employees who donate a living organ such as a kidney or part of a liver.
Sponsor Representative Hilferty’s office told the committee the bill is intended to protect workers who undergo surgery to donate an organ and to ensure they can return to work while receiving pay. “This law will ensure economic security for workers across the state who've made the decision to donate an organ,” Anne Jay’s of the Louisiana Public Health Institute said in testimony supporting the bill.
The committee considered business concerns about mandating extended paid leave for private employers, particularly small employers with thin margins. Several representatives warned that an open‑ended paid‑leave requirement could be burdensome, and business groups including the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry opposed the bill as drafted.
To address those concerns, the committee adopted an amendment that restores the existing 40‑work‑hour limit present in the bone‑marrow statute: the length of required paid leave “shall be determined by the employee but may not exceed 40 work hours unless agreed to by the employer.” With that cap in place, members then voted to refer the measure to the House Committee on Labor so employment‑law and fiscal implications can be reviewed before it advances.
Committee members said they support living donors but want to balance worker protections with predictability for employers. Sponsors agreed to work with business groups and labor to refine the bill.
