1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to employment; requiring employers to grant 
  1.3             paid leave to employees who donate blood; proposing 
  1.4             coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 181. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  [181.946] [BLOOD DONATION LEAVE.] 
  1.7      Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] For purposes of this 
  1.8   section, the following terms have the meanings given them in 
  1.9   this subdivision: 
  1.10     (a) "Employee" means a person who performs services for 
  1.11  hire for an employer, for an average of 20 hours or more per 
  1.12  week, and includes all individuals employed at any site owned or 
  1.13  operated by an employer.  Employee does not include an 
  1.14  independent contractor. 
  1.15     (b) "Employer" means a person or entity, including state 
  1.16  and political subdivisions, that employs one or more employees. 
  1.17     Subd. 2.  [LEAVE.] An employer must grant paid leaves of 
  1.18  absence to an employee who is donating blood.  Each paid leave 
  1.19  must be for the full amount of time needed to donate blood and 
  1.20  to travel to and from the blood donation site, up to two hours 
  1.21  per donation.  An employer may require an employee to verify 
  1.22  that the employee has given blood during the paid leave. 
  1.23     Subd. 3.  [NO EMPLOYER SANCTIONS.] An employer shall not 
  1.24  retaliate against an employee for requesting or obtaining a 
  1.25  leave of absence under this section. 
  2.1      Subd. 4.  [RELATION TO OTHER LEAVE.] This section does not 
  2.2   prevent an employer from granting blood donation leave in 
  2.3   addition to that required by this section.  This section does 
  2.4   not affect an employee's rights with respect to any other 
  2.5   employment benefit.