The U.S. Department of Labor issued an opinion letter Sept. 4, saying healthy organ donors can use medical leave as laid out per the Family and Medical Leave Act, according to The Chicago Sun Times.
The department issued the letter in response to an unnamed source asking whether organ donation should be considered a "serious health condition" under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
"Organ-donation surgery … commonly requires overnight hospitalization," Bryan Jarrett, acting administrator of the department's wage and hour division, wrote in the letter. "[T]hat alone suffices for the surgery and the postsurgery recover to qualify as a serious health condition."
The law grants eligible employees up to 12 weeks unpaid leave in a 12-month period.
"I am thrilled to hear this," Bel Kambach, a recent liver transplant recipient, told The Chicago Sun Times. She waited three years for a liver and said one reason people couldn't donate to her was because they could not afford to take time off work.