Maternity leave after birth: Everything you need to know

It did take quite a while, but at the end it happened: As of June 2016, following the amendment to the Women's Work Act, fathers can also go on vacation (even if briefly) on the occasion of the baby's birth. Everything you need to know about paternity leave

The first three days of absence will be deducted from the annual leave quota (Photo: shutterstock)

Baby diaper replacement (Photo: ShutterStock)

In June 2016, a second and third reading was approved by the Women’s Work (Paternity Leave) Bill. This amendment provides, for the first time, that an employee who has just become a father may be absent from work for up to five days, starting on the day of birth. It is interesting to note that the third reading supported 64 Knesset members, with no dissent at all, indicating the unanimity of the need for the historic amendment.

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The first three days of absence

The amendment allows the employee to take a five-day calendar holiday, including weekend days.

The first three days of absence will be deducted from the annual leave quota. This means that the employee will receive a holiday allowance for each of them, which means full pay. In case the employee has not accrued enough vacation days, these three days will be counted as unpaid leave.

The other two days

The remaining two days of paternity leave will be considered sickness days, and more precisely - the second and third days of the illness. Therefore, the employee will receive 50% of his salary. In workplaces where it is customary to pay full wages for sick days, the employee will receive full wages for these days.

Some employees choose to leave the workplace only on the fourth and fifth days after giving birth, and arrive as usual for the first three days. In such a case, the days of absence will be considered free leave or annual leave rather than sick leave, since these are the first two days of absence.

Absence on birth day is now considered the first illness (Photo: shutterstock)

Pregnant woman in hospital (Photo: ShutterStock)

And what about the birth day?

Absence on the day of birth - from the date of onset to day after birth - will now be considered the first illness for which the employee will not be entitled to sick pay (unless his place of work is acceptable to pay for this day as well). Either way, the day of birth will be deducted from the employee sickness quota.

Maternity leave concurrent with maternity

In addition to these days of absence, employees are entitled to a one-day maternity leave at the same time as the maternity. At each stage during her maternity leave. An employee who chooses to take maternity leave during the first week will be entitled to a maternity allowance for that week and will not be deducted from days off or sickness (in the case of giving birth to more than one baby, the maternity leave will be two weeks).

It is important to note that eligibility to share the maternity leave is added to the five-day paternity leave, and does not replace or cancel it.

Attorney Orna Shmaryahu has been in the field of labor law for over 18 years and represents employees and employers in all jurisdictions.

Phone: 077-9977542

The article was written in collaboration with a legal zap website

The information presented in the article does not constitute or replace legal advice and does not constitute a recommendation for taking proceedings or avoiding proceedings. Anyone who relies on the information contained in the article does so at his own risk.