Eligibility. A career employee who is currently working and has successfully completed an initial probationary period during the current employment period and worked at least 1,250 hours during the previous 12 months may be eligible for paid leave as provided in this Letter of Understanding to donate a kidney, a liver segment, or bone marrow, and medically recover. An eligible employee may take Live Organ Donation Leave (LODL) no more than once in any 12-month period.

 

Duration. Any LODL leave is a continuous leave that begins on the date of donation and ends on the earliest of:

1. 60 calendar days after a kidney or liver segment donation.
2. 30 calendar days after a bone marrow donation.
3. The date that absence to recover from the donation is no longer supported by documentation from the employee’s medical provider as medically necessary.
4. The date of the employee’s seasonal layoff, limited term appointment’s expiration, layoff after position abolishment, or separation from state service.
5. The date the employee returns to work.

 

Notice. Before beginning a LODL leave, the employee should give as much notice as practicable of the expected start and end date for the leave, which should be at least 30 days before its expected start.

 

Pay. An eligible full-time employee on LODL leave receives base pay during the leave. An eligible less-than-full-time employee on a LODL leave, for each week during the leave, receives base pay for the average number of hours scheduled each week over the last six pay periods before the leave, distributed equally Monday through Friday. Hours are entered in payroll as administrative leave.

 

Holidays. Paid holidays observed during a leave are recorded as paid holidays and do not extend a LODL leave.

 

Leave and accruals. An employee need not exhaust sick and annual leave before taking LODL leave. An employee accrues sick and annual leave during the leave. An eligible employee may not use any other paid leave during any organ donation leave. Time on LODL leave counts toward step increases if an employee is in satisfactory standing.

Coordination with other benefits. Time on LODL leave also counts toward any FMLA and unpaid medical leave entitlements. Long-term disability (LTD) benefits are not available during a LODL leave.

 

This Letter of Understanding takes effect on the latter of October 1, 2023, or when approved by the Civil Service Commission and continues through the end of the current collective bargaining agreement.   Live organ donation before the effective date of this Letter of Understanding does not qualify for LODL but an employee may use other existing contractual or statutory leave.

 

For the Union                                               For the Office of the State Employer