II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3685 

To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to permit leave 

for bone marrow or blood stem cell donation, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 30, 2024 

Mr. CASEY (for himself and Mr. CASSIDY) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to 

permit leave for bone marrow or blood stem cell donation, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Life Saving Leave 

5 Act’’. 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•S 3685 IS

1 SEC. 2. ENTITLEMENT TO LEAVE FOR BONE MARROW OR 

2 BLOOD STEM CELL DONATION. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 102(a) of the Family and 

4 Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612(a)) is amend5 ed— 

6 (1) by redesignating paragraph (5) as para7 graph (6); and 

8 (2) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(5) ENTITLEMENT TO LEAVE FOR BONE MAR11 ROW OR BLOOD STEM CELL DONATION.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara13 graph (B) and section 103(g), an eligible em14 ployee shall be entitled to leave under this para15 graph— 

16 ‘‘(i) for predonation activities relating 

17 to the making of a donation of bone mar18 row or blood stem cells for transplant; 

19 ‘‘(ii) for the making of such donation; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(iii) for postdonation activities relat22 ing to the making of such donation. 

23 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS.— 

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An eligible em25 ployee shall be entitled to a total of 40 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•S 3685 IS

1 hours of leave under this paragraph during 

2 any 12-month period. 

3 ‘‘(ii) COORDINATION RULE.—Subject 

4 to subsection (d)(3), during any 12-month 

5 period, an eligible employee shall be enti6 tled to a combined total of 12 workweeks 

7 of leave under this paragraph and para8 graph (1). Nothing in this paragraph shall 

9 be construed to limit the availability of 

10 leave under paragraph (1) during any 

11 other 12-month period.’’. 

12 (b) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEE.—Section 

13 101(2) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 

14 U.S.C. 2611(2)) is amended by adding at the end the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(F) EMPLOYEES REQUESTING BONE MAR17 ROW OR BLOOD STEM CELL LEAVE.—The re18 quirements of subparagraphs (A) and (B)(ii) 

19 shall not apply with respect to leave under sec20 tion 102(a)(5).’’. 

21 (c) SCHEDULE.—Section 102(b)(1) of such Act (29 

22 U.S.C. 2612(b)(1)) is amended by inserting after the third 

23 sentence the following: ‘‘Subject to subsection (e)(4) and 

24 section 103(g), leave under subsection (a)(5) may be taken 

25 intermittently or on a reduced leave schedule.’’. 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•S 3685 IS

1 (d) SUBSTITUTION OF PAID LEAVE.—Section 

2 102(d)(2) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2612(d)(2)) is amended 

3 by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(C) BONE MARROW OR BLOOD STEM

5 CELL DONATION LEAVE.—An eligible employee 

6 may elect, but an employer may not require the 

7 employee, to substitute any of the accrued paid 

8 vacation leave, personal leave, or medical or 

9 sick leave of the employee for leave provided 

10 under subsection (a)(5) for any part of the 40 

11 hours of such leave under such subsection, ex12 cept that nothing in this title shall require an 

13 employer to provide paid sick leave or paid 

14 medical leave in any situation in which such 

15 employer would not normally provide any such 

16 paid leave.’’. 

17 (e) NOTICE.—Section 102(e) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 

18 2612(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(4) NOTICE RELATING TO BONE MARROW OR

20 BLOOD STEM CELL DONATION LEAVE.—In any case 

21 in which the necessity for leave under subsection 

22 (a)(5) is foreseeable based on planned predonation, 

23 donation, or postdonation activities, the employee— 

24 ‘‘(A) shall, subject to the approval of the 

25 treatment provider of the activities, make a reaVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Feb 01, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3685.IS S3685

kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•S 3685 IS

1 sonable effort to schedule the treatment so as 

2 not to disrupt unduly the operations of the em3 ployer; and 

4 ‘‘(B) shall provide the employer with not 

5 less than 30 days’ notice, before the date the 

6 leave is to begin, of the employee’s intention to 

7 take leave under such subparagraph, except 

8 that if the date of the treatment requires leave 

9 to begin in less than 30 days, the employee 

10 shall provide such notice as is practicable.’’. 

11 (f) CERTIFICATION.—Section 103 of such Act (29 

12 U.S.C. 2613) is amended by adding at the end the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(g) CERTIFICATION RELATING TO BONE MARROW

15 OR BLOOD STEM CELL DONATION LEAVE.—An employer 

16 may require that a request for leave under section 

17 102(a)(5) be supported by a certification issued by a con18 tractor of the registry functions of the C.W. Bill Young 

19 Cell Transplantation Program established under section 

20 379 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 274k).’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB