The following changes to Virginia employment law take effect on July 1, 2023.

ORGAN DONATION LEAVE
Employers with 50 or more employees will be required to provide unpaid leave to donate an organ or bone marrow. To be eligible for leave, employees must have worked for the employer for at least 12 months and worked 1,250 hours in the 12 months prior to leave.

Duration of Leave, Benefits, and Reinstatement
Eligible employees can take up to 60 business days of leave to donate an organ and up to 30 business days to donate bone marrow in a 12-month period. Health benefit coverage must be maintained as usual during the leave. Organ donation leave can’t be counted as a break in service for purposes of an employee’s right to pay increases, sick leave, paid time off, seniority, or other benefits. When they return from leave, employees are generally entitled to the same or an equivalent position.

Certification
Employers can require that an employee provide a written verification from a doctor that they’re an organ or bone marrow donor and that there’s a medical necessity for the donation.

Interaction with Other Leaves
This leave doesn’t run concurrently with leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), so any leave an employee takes under this law will be in addition to their FMLA leave entitlement. Employees can use paid sick leave or other paid time off during organ donation leave.

Action Item
Add an organ donation leave policy to your handbook.

NO SSNs AS EMPLOYEE ID NUMBERS
Employers of all sizes will be prohibited from using an employee’s Social Security number (SSN), or a number derived from their SSN (like the last four digits), as their employee identification number or on their identification card, access card, or other badges. Employers currently using SSNs, or any part of them, should create new employee identification numbers by July 1, 2023.