Faculty and staff who volunteer as blood donors have a new option to take paid time off to accomplish their good deed during regularly scheduled work hours.
The incentive to encourage blood donation was approved by the Iowa Legislature earlier this year and is an extension of existing provisions for bone marrow and living organ donors. The new blood donor portion of the law allows state workers up to two consecutive hours as many as four times per year to donate blood voluntarily.
An addition to Iowa State's policy on organ and bone marrow donation effective July 1 will reflect the changes to the law and extend paid time off to blood donors, said Andrea Little, associate director of employee and labor relations for university human resources (UHR). Blood donation will be available in Workday as a new time-off type.
The existing policy -- which allows five days of paid time off for bone marrow donation and 30 days for organ donation -- requires medical documentation and, when foreseeable, a minimum 30-day notice before the donation. Those requirements also will apply to blood donors.
The policy also will be updated to incorporate revised terminology in the state law, Little said.
Contact UHR at timeandabsence@iastate.edu with any questions about the policy change.
