New Jersey Bill Seeks to Guarantee Job Protections to Organ and Bone Marrow Donors

A bill (A4360), which was introduced on May 8, 2015, seeks to amend the Temporary Disability Benefits Law (TDBL) (N.J.S.A. 43:21-25 et seq.) to require that individuals disabled in connection with donating organs or bone marrow be restored to their original position of employment when the period of disability ends, or to an equivalent position with equivalent terms and conditions of employment. Such a guarantee of job protection would be a dramatic change to the TDBL, which currently only provides partial wage replacement, but no job protection to any disabled employees. The bill would also expressly identify a disability associated with organ or bone marrow donations as a “compensable disability” and waive the otherwise standard one-week waiting period to collect temporary disability benefits.