Currently, state law mandates private employers with 15 or more employees to provide employees 30 days of paid leave in a one-year period when an employee participates in an organ donation. Employers also are required to provide bone marrow donors five days of paid leave.

Now, Governor Gavin Newsom has signed AB 1223, which extends the amount of leave an organ donor may take. Private employers must now provide a maximum of an additional 30 business days of unpaid leave. The new law takes effect on January 1, 2020.

Employees are still required to provide their employers with written verification of their participation in either organ donation or bone marrow donation. The verification also must include that the procedure is medically necessary.