HB1616 amends the Illinois Employee Blood and Organ Donation Leave Act to expand paid leave protections for organ donation. Under current law, participating employees may take up to 10 days of leave in a 12-month period to serve as an organ donor, subject to employer approval and Department rules. The bill adds part-time employees to that organ-donor leave provision and requires employers to calculate and pay part-time workers based on their daily average pay from the previous two months of employment.
The bill also retains the existing blood-donation leave framework, under which participating employees may use up to one hour, or more if authorized, to donate blood every 56 days. Leave for either blood or organ donation still requires employer approval, and the Department must continue to adopt rules governing requests, approvals, and medical documentation before leave is granted. The measure therefore broadens eligibility for paid organ-donor leave without changing the basic approval and documentation structure.
HB1616’s main legal effect is to amend Section 10 of the Employee Blood and Organ Donation Leave Act (820 ILCS 149/10) by expressly including part-time employees in the organ-donor leave benefit. It also creates a pay-calculation rule for part-time workers using this leave, which affects employer payroll and leave administration practices. The bill does not appear to create a new leave category, but rather extends an existing employment benefit to a broader class of workers.
The available voting history suggests the bill had strong legislative support. It passed the Illinois House 70-34 and the Senate 54-0, indicating broad agreement on expanding organ-donor leave protections. No committee transcript was provided, so there is no recorded debate to indicate broader public controversy or detailed policy arguments.
The most likely point of contention is the cost and administrative burden on employers, especially regarding paid leave for part-time workers and the requirement to calculate average pay for leave days used. Supporters likely view the bill as a pro-donation, pro-worker measure that removes a gap in current law and encourages organ donation by making leave available to part-time employees as well as full-time employees.
Impact
HB1616 amends the Employee Blood and Organ Donation Leave Act (820 ILCS 149/10) to extend paid organ-donor leave to part-time employees and to require a specific wage calculation for their leave pay. It affects Illinois employers covered by the Act, participating employees, and part-time employees seeking organ-donor leave, while leaving the blood-donation leave provisions largely unchanged. The Department of Labor must continue to issue rules governing leave requests, approvals, and medical documentation.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been viewed favorably overall, with strong bipartisan or near-unanimous support in the Senate and a solid majority in the House. The vote totals suggest the legislature generally supported expanding leave protections for organ donation. Because no committee discussion transcript was provided, there is no direct evidence of sustained opposition in the record supplied.
Contention
The main likely concern is employer impact: paid leave for part-time employees may increase labor costs and require new payroll calculations and leave administration procedures. Another possible point of contention is the continued requirement for employer approval, which may be seen by some as limiting the practical usefulness of the benefit, though the bill itself does not alter that structure. Supporters would likely emphasize the public-health and workforce-equity benefits of making organ-donor leave available to part-time workers.