PRINT DISCLAIMER: Official version of this document is accessible in the online policy library at https://policyoffice.ku.edu/. Printed copies may not reflect the most recent updates.
DOCUMENT TYPE:
Policy
PURPOSE:
The 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.
APPLIES TO:
Faculty and staff with active appointments to regular positions of 48% or greater.
CAMPUS:
Lawrence
POLICY STATEMENT:
Eligible faculty and staff may receive paid leave in accordance with the criteria noted below:
- Up to 30 working days of paid leave for recovery from an organ or tissue donation procedure;
- Up to 7 working days of paid leave following the donation of bone marrow;
- 1 ½ hours of paid leave every 4 months for the donation of blood (see reporting below);
- 3 hours of paid leave every 4 months for the donation of blood platelets or other approved blood products.
Additional Information:
- Donor Leave will be paid at the employee’s regular rate of pay.
- Donor Leave will only be paid for leave taken during regularly scheduled work hours. For academic year faculty, this will be reported based on an 8 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday work schedule.
- Individuals on sabbatical, summer leave without pay with benefits, leave without pay, or on suspension are not considered to have "active" appointments for purposes of Donor Leave.
- When Donor Leave is approved, eligible faculty and staff will continue to accrue leave for which they are eligible.
- Donor leave will not be counted against a faculty or staff members’ FMLA entitlement.
- Donor leave does not count as time worked for Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) purposes for non-exempt staff, except as noted below for blood donation.
EXCLUSIONS OR SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES:
Donor leave may not be used to care for family members who are donors.
A faculty or staff member does not have to exhaust any accrued leave before being eligible to receive donor leave.
CONTACT:
Human Resources
103 Carruth-O’Leary Hall
1246 W. Campus Road
Lawrence, KS 66045
785-864-4946
hrdept@ku.edu
APPROVED BY:
Associate Vice Provost, Human Resources
APPROVED ON:
2006-11-01
EFFECTIVE ON:
2006-11-01
REVIEW CYCLE:
Annual (As Needed)
RELATED PROCEDURES:
How to Request
A faculty or staff member must request donor leave in advance from a supervisor or manager, using normal leave request procedures
Reporting
- Donation of blood to a KU sponsored blood drive will be considered work time as approved by a supervisor and does not necessitate a request for donor leave nor reporting as donor leave. This time will not count against the 1 ½ hours allowed every 4 months under the Donor Leave program.
- Employees should report their leave usage weekly in the HR/Pay system. Leave for both exempt and non-exempt employees may be reported in a minimum of .25 hour increments.
RELATED OTHER:
Human Resources - Donor Leave
CHANGE HISTORY:
03/31/2025: Migration to TeamDynamix from Drupal.
09/20/2024: Updated Human Resource Management (HRM) to Human Resources (HR); corrected link formatting in Related Other section.
09/21/2017: Corrected spelling
07/26/2016: Update policy to change eligibility from 50% FTE to 48% FTE and align with current leave reporting processes. Added purpose and applies to.
01/16/2015: Policy formatting cleanup (e.g., bolding, spacing).
11/01/2006: Policy effective.