Donor Leave

Memorandum

TO: Vice Chancellors, Deans, Directors, Chairpersons, and Department Heads

FROM: Rick Robards, Director of Human Resources

DATE: March 7, 2001

SUBJECT: State of Kansas Donor Leave Program

Governor Bill Graves recently issued an Executive Order that creates a new category of paid leave for benefits eligible (i.e. 50% or more in a "regular" position) faculty and staff (classified or unclassified). Donor Leave applies only to faculty and staff with "active" appointments and may not be used to care for family members who are donors. The Kansas Donor Leave Program provides approved recovery time away from work for faculty and staff who choose to donate organs, tissue, bone marrow, blood, or blood products. The Donor Leave program became effective March 4, 2001.

Guidelines for State Donor Leave Program

Under the Kansas State Donor Leave Program, all classified and unclassified benefits eligible faculty and staff may receive paid leave in accordance with the criteria noted below:

• Faculty and staff may receive up to 30 working days of paid leave for recovery from an organ or tissue donation procedure.
• Faculty and staff may receive up to 7 working days of paid leave following the donation of bone marrow.
• Faculty and staff may receive 1.5 hours of paid leave every 4 months for the donation of blood.
• Faculty and staff may receive 3 hours of paid leave every 4 months for the donation of blood platelets or other approved blood products.

A faculty or staff member must request donor leave in advance from a supervisor or manager, using normal leave request procedures. A faculty or staff member does not have to exhaust any accrued vacation leave, sick leave, or compensatory time before being eligible to receive donor leave. Donor Leave will not be counted against a faculty or staff member's FMLA entitlement, nor does it count as time worked for FLSA purposes for non-exempt staff.

Additional guidelines will be provided to Departmental Timekeepers. Please feel free to contact Human Resources, 913-588-5080 with any questions.