Bereavement leave: how many days an employee gets, and what happens if the employer refuses

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How many days of bereavement leave are you entitled to, and who has the right?

Someone who has worked at least 3 months at the workplace and observes mourning customs for a first-degree relative (spouse, parent, child, brother or sister) is entitled to be paid their wages for the working days on which they were absent, within a window of up to 7 calendar days. In other words, not “seven days’ wages” but wages for the working days that fell within the seven days. These are not vacation days; they are separate bereavement days, and an employer who refuses is exposed to a claim.

The entitlement to bereavement leave in Israel is based on the extension order for the framework agreement on the work week, holidays and mourning (in force from July 2000), which applies to most employees in the economy, even without a specific collective agreement. Alongside it, sector-wide collective agreements and the terms of a personal contract can extend the entitlement beyond the basic floor.

Which prevails: the law, a collective agreement or a personal contract?

Bereavement leave in Israel is regulated mainly through collective agreements between employers’ organizations and trade unions, and through extension orders that apply these provisions to the whole economy. The wording of the extension order: an employee who has worked at the workplace at least 3 months and observes a duty of mourning (on the death of parents, children, a spouse, brothers and sisters) for reasons of religion or custom (“shiva”) and does not work on those days is entitled to be paid their wages for the working days on which they were absent, and not more than seven calendar days. These days do not count toward the annual leave days, as the Annual Leave Law provides in section 5(a)(5).

In the public service and in some collective agreements, more favorable provisions may apply, for example bereavement days also on the death of relatives who are not listed in the general extension order. The right depends on observing mourning customs “for reasons of religion or custom”, so a secular employee who sits shiva is also entitled to it, and an employee of another religion is entitled according to the mourning customs of their community.

For which relatives are you entitled to bereavement leave, and for how many days?

The entitlement to bereavement leave depends on the family relationship. An employee whose spouse, parent, child (biological or adopted) or brother or sister died is entitled to payment for the bereavement days, up to 7 calendar days. Grandparents, uncles and aunts, and nephews and nieces are not listed in the extension order: absence because of their death depends on a sector-wide collective agreement, on the employer’s policy or on using vacation days. A refusal to pay, or a dismissal that followed the absence, is already a matter for an employment lawyer.

Entitlement to bereavement leave for more distant relatives (an uncle, an aunt, nephews and nieces) is not guaranteed in the general extension order. In these cases, the decision depends on the collective agreement that applies to the sector or on the employer’s discretion. Many companies, especially in high-tech, have extended bereavement leave to more distant relatives too, particularly when the deceased lived in the family home.

How the payment is calculated, and which days count at all

The wording of the extension order is precise, and it is worth reading slowly: the employee “is entitled to be paid their wages for the working days on which they were absent, and not more than seven (calendar) days”. Two separate elements:

• What is paid: wages for the working days on which the employee was absent, not seven days’ wages automatically.
• What the cap is: a window of seven calendar days, that is, consecutive days on the calendar, including Saturdays and days that are not working days.

What this means in practice: for an employee with a five-day work week, the window of seven calendar days will usually contain five working days, and the wages are paid for them. For an hourly or daily-paid employee, the check is on which days they were supposed to work according to the roster or a regular work pattern. When the roster is not regular, it is usual to calculate by the average number of working days in the period before the event, so it is worth keeping the shift rosters.

Two calculation points that come up again and again on payslips:

• Bereavement days are not vacation days. They may not be deducted from the annual leave quota, and may not be recorded as unpaid leave. Such a deduction on the payslip is grounds for raising it with the employer immediately, and after that for a claim. The full background on vacation and sick leave quotas is in Annual leave and sick pay.
• A holiday that fell within the window. The same extension order gives, in a separate section, an entitlement to full payment for nine holidays to an employee after three months of work. A holiday that fell within the seven days of mourning is paid as a holiday, not as a bereavement day, and there is no double payment for the same day.

And finally, the seniority condition: the entitlement to payment arises for someone who has worked at least three months at the same workplace. A newer employee may of course be absent, but payment for the days depends on the employer’s consent, on a sector-wide collective agreement or on the personal contract, so it is worth asking for an answer in writing. On the status of a new employee, see Employee rights in the first year.

How do you notify the employer, and what is it prohibited from doing?

An employee asking for bereavement leave must notify the employer as soon as possible, preferably on the day of the death itself or the day after. The notice should include details of the deceased, the family relationship, the number of days the employee asks to use, and the relevant dates. An employer may ask for confirmation of the death (such as a death notice), but may not deny payment to someone who meets the conditions of the extension order.

The employer will record the bereavement days in the employee’s file and update their salary accordingly, without reducing the wages. Keep a death certificate or a confirmation from the burial society: this protects you if questions about the entitlement come up in the future.

What else are you entitled to during the mourning period?

Bereavement days are only the basis. There are several more rights worth knowing about, and most employees do not know they have them:

Full pay: bereavement days are not deducted from salary, vacation days or sick days. An employer who tries to set them off does so unlawfully. If the absence was in the end linked to the end of employment, also check the severance pay calculation and the other components of the final settlement.

Flexibility after the shiva: collective agreements and the policies of many employers include arrangements for the week after the mourning: rescheduling shifts, postponing business trips or working from home. Check what applies at your workplace, and ask for it in writing.

National Insurance: if a spouse or parent died, also check entitlement to a survivors’ pension and a death grant from the National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi). Bereavement days from the employer are a right completely separate from National Insurance benefits.

Mourning for a parent after a divorce: even if the relationship with the parent was minimal, the right exists. The extension order makes it depend on the family relationship (a parent) and on observing mourning customs, not on the nature of the relationship with the deceased.

Conditions and deadlines: bereavement leave

A hypothetical example: an employee with a five-day work week (Sunday to Thursday), who has worked at the workplace for a year, and whose father died on Sunday, 4 October 2026. He sits shiva until Saturday, 10 October 2026, and does not work. In the window of seven calendar days there are five working days (4–8 October 2026), and his wages are paid for them (section 8 of the provisions extended by the order). These days do not count as vacation days (section 5(a)(5) of the Annual Leave Law). The rules are as worded as of 4 October 2026.

What to keep

• The death notice or a confirmation of the death.
• The notice to the employer: when it was given and what it said.
• That month’s payslip: check that the bereavement days were not recorded as vacation or as unpaid leave.
• The shift roster, if you work shifts.

Dismissed because you took bereavement leave? That is not allowed, and this is how to sue

If an employer refused to allow an employee bereavement days to which they are entitled under the law or an agreement, the employee may file a claim with the Labor Court for breach of the employment contract. Such a claim may lead to the employer being ordered to pay the employee the loss of wages for the days denied to them, plus compensation for the breach. See also: Wage claim against an employer.

If an employer dismissed an employee because they used bereavement days, this may be considered an unlawful dismissal: a dismissal lacking good faith. The Labor Court looks with suspicion at a dismissal close to the use of a protected right, and an employer who is shown to have dismissed for that reason may be ordered to pay compensation for unlawful dismissal, in an amount set according to the circumstances of the case.

Remote employee, unmarried partner, daily worker: what is the law?

A remote employee: the right to bereavement leave applies to remote employees exactly as it does to employees in the office. The place of work does not matter: what counts is the type of employment. A remote employee who is asked to “work from home” on a day of mourning because “they are at home anyway” does not have to agree: the entitlement to payment applies to them too, provided they do not work on those days.

Common-law partners: the extension order names a “spouse” and does not define the term. In employment law it is usual to recognize common-law partners, including same-sex partners, as spouses for the purpose of rights, so a blanket refusal is not a given; it is recommended to check the collective agreement or the employer’s policy in advance. The usual test: living together and running a joint household.

A daily worker and a temporary employee: a daily-paid employee, a casual employee or one employed through a manpower contractor is also entitled to bereavement leave, provided there is an employer-employee relationship. Note the seniority condition: the extension order gives the payment only to an employee who has worked at least 3 months at the workplace. A newer employee may of course be absent, but payment for the days depends on the employer’s consent, on a sector-wide collective agreement or on the personal contract.