New Legislation Will Assist Living Organ Donors
May 27, 2009 10:36 AM
McGuinty Government Provides Job-Protected Leave For Living Organ Donors
Living organ donors in Ontario will soon have the benefit of job-protected leave.
Ontario has passed amendments to the
Employment Standards Act, 2000 to provide unpaid job-protected leave for
employees who donate certain organs to another individual. The amendments come into force upon
proclamation.
The legislation builds on the $4 million announced in 2007 to implement an Organ Donation Strategy. The strategy includes the establishment of the Program for Reimbursing Expenses of Living Organ Donors, a fund that will reimburse living organ donors for certain eligible, out-of-pocket expenses and lost income associated with their organ donation.
Living donation has many advantages such as reducing wait times and patient suffering, increased transplant success, and reduced health costs.
QUICK FACTS
- Currently, the job-protected leave applies to persons who are donating all or part of the following organs: kidney, liver, lung, pancreas and small bowel.
- Donors would have to be employed by the same employer for at least 13 weeks in order to be entitled to the leave.
- There are approximately 1,700 men, women and children waiting for an organ transplant in Ontario.
- Living organ donors comprise approximately 30 percent of total transplants.
LEARN MORE
CONTACTS
- Bruce Skeaff
Communications Branch
416-326-7405
- Susan McConnell
Minister's Office
416-326-7710
ontario.ca/labour
"Job-protected leave provides necessary support to caring people who want to help others. This is the right thing to do."
– Peter Fonseca
Minister of Labour
"By providing critical support to donors, the province is helping to increase the number of lives saved through organ donation."
– David Caplan
Minister of Health and Long-Term Care
Communities
