Blood donation now among the reasons Oregon workers can use sick leave

Dive Brief:

• Gov. Tina Kotek signed into law on May 28 a measure that allows Oregon workers to use paid sick leave for blood donation.
• Per SB 1108, which was sponsored by state Senator Lew Frederick, the blood donation must be made with a program that is accredited or approved by the American Red Cross or American Association of Blood Banks.
• The law will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2026. Officials estimated that the law will have minimal fiscal impact on state or local government expenditures and no effect on revenue.

Dive Insight:

Oregon’s paid sick leave law already is unique among other states’ legislation, according to insight from Littler Mendelson, in that it allows workers to donate paid sick leave itself to another employee under certain circumstances.

“Though many paid sick leave laws discuss employees’ voluntarily donating sick leave, Oregon’s is the only one that expressly counts donated leave against the annual amount of leave a donating employee can ‘use’ under the law,” Littler attorneys said.

Oregon also isn’t the first governing body to have an expansive scope for reasons to use sick leave, the firm noted; in San Francisco, workers can use paid sick leave for bone marrow and organ donations.

Meanwhile, New York City legislators have proposed the use of paid leave to care for sick pets — affectionately nicknamed “pawternity leave.” One expert outlined the utility of this proposal, noting that workers are already likely to use paid time off for this specific caregiving purpose.

The expert also told HR Dive that, in many cases, caring for a sick pet is no different than caring for another sick family member.

Because there is no federal paid sick leave policy, the nuances of how time off provided by state and local leave laws can be used generally comes down to state and local legislatures — something attorneys have said HR should keep in mind.