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Is an employee in Israel entitled to paid leave to care for a sick spouse or parent?

Yes, and the days come out of accrued sick leave rather than vacation. The Sick Pay (Absence due to Spouse's Illness) Law 5758-1998 lets an employee charge up to six days a year against accumulated sick days in order to care for a spouse. The Sick Pay (Absence due to Parent's Illness) Law 5754-1993 gives a comparable entitlement of up to six days a year where the parent has reached 65 and depends on the help of another person. A substantially longer allowance applies where a spouse has a malignant illness or needs dialysis. Written notice and medical confirmation are required.

These are stand-alone statutes layered on the Sick Pay Law 5736-1976, and they create no additional days. They redirect days the employee has already accrued, at the rate of one and a half days for each month worked, capped at ninety. Payment follows the ordinary sick pay ladder, so the first day is unpaid, the second and third are paid at half rate, and the fourth onward at full rate. The employee submits a written declaration identifying the relative and confirming that no other family member is taking leave for the same person over the same period, together with a doctor's confirmation.

Nationality is irrelevant here. Anyone employed in Israel under an Israeli contract carries these rights, including foreign nationals on work permits, and an employment contract cannot waive them. Employers sometimes push the absence into annual leave instead, which drains the vacation balance and is not what the statute provides. Keep the declaration and the medical confirmation, because a Labor Court claim over wrongly deducted vacation days turns on that paperwork. Where a spouse faces prolonged treatment, ask about the extended allowance early. Our guide to sick leave rights in Israel explains how the underlying balance accrues.

⚖ In Practice
  • Governing law: Sick Pay (Absence due to Spouse's Illness) Law 5758-1998; Sick Pay (Absence due to Parent's Illness) Law 5754-1993; both operate on the Sick Pay Law 5736-1976
  • Competent authority: Labor Court (Beit Din LeAvoda); enforcement complaints to the Ministry of Labour's regulation and enforcement administration
  • Entitlement: up to 6 days a year for a spouse and up to 6 days a year for a dependent parent aged 65 or over, with a substantially longer allowance where a spouse has a malignant illness or requires dialysis
  • Source of days: charged against the employee's accrued sick balance, which builds at 1.5 days per month of work up to 90 days
  • Pay rate: day 1 unpaid, days 2 and 3 at 50%, day 4 onward at 100% of the sick-day wage
  • Paperwork: a written declaration from the employee naming the relative, plus a doctor's confirmation

From the full guide: Sick Leave in Israel: Employee Rights and Pay Rules

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Get a Free Consultation with Adv. Eli ShimonyPrepared under the direction of Adv. Eli Shimony, Eli Shimony Law Office · Editorial policy

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