Closed petition Make companies legally obliged to allow staff time off work to donate blood

Closed on 21 February 2013

Blood donations are vital to the NHS and save lives every day. Yet getting time off work to donate blood can be made very difficult. Employers are often reluctant to allow staff time out from their jobs for this purpose, meaning staff either have to use their annual leave entitlement, go unpaid or make up the hours out of their own time. In a country which relies on blood donations every day this is a disgrace.

The government should legislate to make it a legal requirement for companies to give staff reasonable time off work to donate blood and other blood products, and staff should not lose salary, annual leave, other benefits or be required to make up the time lost in doing so. This will increase donation rates and ultimately save lives.