Are Israeli fathers entitled to paternity leave? How does paternity leave leave differ from maternity leave? What are the labor rights of fathers of newborn children? In this article, we will explain the laws surrounding paternity leave in Israel.
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A FATHER’S RIGHT TO PATERNITY LEAVE
Paternity leave in addition to, rather than instead of a maternity leave, was only recently implemented in Israel, though in a limited fashion. Fathers now have the right to take the first five days following the birth of their child (and the actual birthday) to spend time with the newborn and assist their spouse. Three days are taken from the father’s paid leave, and two days are unpaid leave. The father is entitled to this time off even without the agreement of his employer. At the end of these days, the father’s paternity rights become intermingled with the right to maternity leave.
Bituach Leumi, Israel’s National Insurance institution, offers pay for fifteen weeks of maternity leave for new mothers. In extraordinary situations, the father may take these fifteen weeks instead, with the mother going back to work. This is a very rare occurrence, and much more commonly, the fifteen weeks of maternity leave may be shared in some way. For example, the father may leave work for the first week after the end of his paternity allowance, and that will be paid for, but that week will be deducted from the fifteen, meaning the mother will now have fourteen weeks of maternity allowance. The parents are entitled to split the fifteen weeks according to their preferences, but the father may use up to nine weeks, leaving the mother with at least six weeks of maternity leave.
If the mother worked for her employee for over 12 months, and is entitled to 26 weeks of maternity leave (only part of which is paid leave subsidized by the National Insurance institute), the father may receive up to 20 weeks of paternity leave if he, in turn, has worked for his employer for over 12 months, and up to 15 if he worked for his employer for less than 12 months.
During paternity leave, the parents still accrue sick leave, unemployment compensation and other social benefits
CONDITIONS FOR ENTITLEMENT TO PATERNITY LEAVE
In order to be eligible to receive the benefits of paternity leave upon the birth of the new child, some conditions must be met.
- Firstly, the mother must be entitled to her maternity allowance, the conditions of which include childbirth, pausing work, and having worked and paid insurance dues for a sufficient number of months.
- Secondly, the father must be a salaried employee or self-employed person, and have paid insurance contributions for 10 out of the last 14 or 15 out of the last 22 months.
- Thirdly, the mother must have waived her right to the weeks of maternity leave which she gives to the father for paternity leave.
- Lastly, the father must have stopped working for the duration of the paternity leave.
Assuming that all of these conditions have been met, Bituach Leumi will pay out an allowance for the paternity leave. This information applies in cases of a mother giving birth to one child. In cases of multiple births such as twins or triplets, the father may be entitled to additional weeks of paid paternity leave benefits.
CONTACT AN ATTORNEY SPECIALIZING IN LABOR LAW
For any question or issue that arises regarding parental leave for the birth of a child, you can contact our law office. An attorney specializing in labor law will be happy to provide you with comprehensive legal assistance on this and a variety of other issues.