This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
House committee to add language allowing organ donation as part of family leave
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations will include language to clarify that living organ donors can take-time off from work using the Family and Medical Leave Act. The change in language was requested by Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.).
“The language will be contained in the Committee Report to the Fiscal Year 2019 Appropriations Bill for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies,” the National Kidney Foundation reported in a statement. “The provision requests the Department of Labor to give notice on its website, or in other public communications, that living donors are eligible for family medical leave when they donate an organ to another person. Representative Herrera Beutler’s efforts will remove a significant barrier for prospective organ donors who may not step forward if they are afraid to lose their job during their recovery period after surgery,” according to the NKF. The foundation reported that it had requested Rep. Beutler make the language change.
“On behalf of nearly 100,000 Americans waiting for a kidney, we sincerely honor and thank her for her commitment to alleviating some of the barriers faced by living organ donors. It is only by removing these barriers that we can increase living organ donation and give patients a second chance at life,” according to the NKF.
For more information visit www.kidney.org/livingdonation.
Reference: