Sick days because of depression, anxiety or a mental health crisis: your rights at work

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Mental illness is “illness”: what the law actually says

You wanted to take a few sick days because of anxiety, depression or a breakdown after a hard period, and you were afraid of the reaction. The stigma is real, but it has no basis in the law. The Sick Pay Law, 5736-1976 speaks of “illness” and of unfitness to work because of it, without distinguishing between body and mind. Depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder or an acute mental health crisis that prevents you from working entitles you to sick pay exactly like flu or a broken leg, provided that a doctor confirmed your unfitness to work.

The basic rights to sick days and vacation are collected in the guide annual leave and sick leave: employee rights; here we focus on what is special to a mental health condition: confidentiality, protection from dismissal and accommodations.

How many sick days you are owed, and how much is paid

Under the Sick Pay Law, you accrue 1.5 sick days for each full month of work, up to a cap of 90 days. The accrual carries over from year to year, but not beyond the cap: a long-serving employee does not accrue 180 days after ten years. Payment is graded: the first day of absence is not paid; the second and third days at 50% of the wage; from the fourth day on, the full wage. A collective agreement, an extension order or a personal contract can improve on this (for example, payment from the first day), but cannot reduce it. If you are not sure what actually applies to you (the law, an extension order or a personal contract), you can start with checking employee rights with the employer.

A numerical example: an employee earning NIS 400 a day was absent for ten working days because of an anxiety attack, with a medical certificate for the whole period. The sick pay: day 1, NIS 0; days 2–3, 2 × 200 = NIS 400; days 4–10, 7 × 400 = NIS 2,800. In total NIS 3,200 out of NIS 4,000 of regular wages, and 10 days were deducted from her accrual. If the workplace customarily pays from the first day, she receives NIS 4,000.

A medical certificate without a diagnosis: confidentiality is guaranteed in the regulations

This is the most important point to know. The Sick Pay Regulations (Procedures for Payment of Sick Pay), 5737-1976 set what a medical certificate includes: the patient’s name and ID number, the period in which they were unable to work, the doctor’s name and address, and the date of issue. The item “diagnosis”, which used to be on the list, was deleted from the regulations, and today regulation 2(d) provides that the certificate will not include any details about the illness, including medical findings or “poor state of health”. The employer receives confirmation that you are ill and for how long, not of what.

• Who issues the certificate: a doctor: your family doctor, a psychiatrist or any other doctor. A psychologist is not a doctor and is not authorized to issue a medical certificate under the regulations; treatment by a psychologist is documented, but the confirmation for work comes from a doctor.
• Without a visit: since the regulations were amended in 2024, you can get a short medical certificate from the health fund (kupat holim) without a doctor’s visit: up to four sick days per certificate, no more than four times and no more than ten days a year (regulation 2(b)(2)); a longer absence requires a doctor.
• Notifying the employer: under regulation 1, you must notify the employer of the absence and its expected length within three days of the first day.
• The employer’s doubt: regulation 2(c) allows an employer who doubts the content of a medical certificate that was not issued by a health fund doctor to send the employee for a medical examination, not to investigate the diagnosis.

Medical information that is given to the employer is protected under the Protection of Privacy Law, 5741-1981, and it must not be disclosed or used for another purpose. On the limits, see monitoring employees: the limits of the law.

Protection from dismissal, during the illness and after it

Section 4A of the Sick Pay Law prohibits an employer from dismissing an employee who was absent from work because of illness during the period in which they are entitled to sick pay from their accrual. The prohibition does not require “special approval”: it simply prohibits, subject to the exceptions in the Law (for example, when the workplace closes). When the accrual runs out, this specific protection ends, but the general protections remain: the duty of a pre-dismissal hearing, the prohibition on dismissal without good faith, and above all, the prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of disability.

And another point that many people do not know: an employee who resigned because of their state of health, including mental health, may be treated, under section 6 of the Severance Pay Law, 5723-1963, as someone whose resignation is deemed dismissal and be entitled to severance pay, if the medical findings and the working conditions justify the resignation. Details in the guide calculating severance pay.

Accommodations at work: when your mental health limits your functioning

The Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law, 5758-1998 defines a person with a disability as someone with a physical, mental or intellectual impairment, permanent or temporary, because of which their functioning is substantially limited. Depression or an anxiety disorder that limits functioning meets the definition. Section 8 of the Law prohibits an employer from discriminating against an employee or a candidate because of their disability, in hiring, terms, promotion and dismissal, and requires it to make accommodations, as long as they do not impose an undue burden on it, taking into account the size of the business and the cost. The employment chapter of the Law does not apply to someone who employs fewer than six employees (section 13 of the Law, which applies section 21(c) of the Employment (Equal Opportunities) Law, 5748-1988 (חוק שוויון ההזדמנויות בעבודה, התשמ״ח-1988)).

Typical accommodations for a mental health condition: flexible hours for treatment, working from home in hard periods, a temporary reduction in workload or a change in the scope of responsibility. The request should be in writing, backed by a medical document that describes the limitation (not necessarily the diagnosis), and a refusal must give reasons. More in the article employing a person with a disability: reasonable accommodations, the ban on discrimination and the employer’s duties.

What to do if the employer does not recognize your rights

1. Notify and document. Notice of the absence within three days, a medical certificate on time, and keeping all correspondence, including demands to “tell us what happened”.
2. Do not sign a waiver. An “end-of-employment agreement” offered during an illness, or a waiver of sick days in exchange for a bonus, is viewed with suspicion. Get advice before signing.
3. A complaint about discrimination on the grounds of disability can be filed with the Commission for Equal Rights of Persons with Disabilities at the Ministry of Justice.
4. A claim in the Regional Labor Court: for sick pay that was not paid (late payment of wages: when and how to sue), to cancel a dismissal during the illness and for compensation for discrimination (proceedings in the Labor Court: a guide).

A guide to all employment rights is collected in the employment law information hub.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to tell my employer that I have depression or anxiety?

No. Under the Sick Pay Regulations (Procedures for Payment of Sick Pay), 5737-1976, the medical certificate includes the employee’s name and ID number, the period of unfitness to work, the doctor’s name and address and the date of issue, and the diagnosis item was deleted from the regulations. The certificate will not include any details about the illness (regulation 2(d)). An employer who insists on knowing “what you have” is not entitled to an answer, and medical information given to it is protected by the Protection of Privacy Law. If the employer has a doubt about the content of a certificate that was not issued by a health fund doctor, its right under regulation 2(c) is to send you for a medical examination, not to demand the diagnosis.

How many sick days am I entitled to, and what happens if they have run out?

Under the Sick Pay Law, you accrue 1.5 days for each full month of work, up to a cap of 90 days. An employee who worked for five years without being absent has accrued 90 days, and no more, even after ten years. When the accrual runs out, the absence is still medically justified but is not paid under the Law; then the pension fund (loss of working capacity insurance) or the National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi) come into the picture, depending on the circumstances. It is also important to check a collective agreement or an extension order that may give sick days beyond the Law.

I was dismissed after coming back from sick leave for mental health: what can I do?

Section 4A of the Sick Pay Law prohibits dismissing an employee during the period in which they are entitled to sick pay, except in exceptional cases. After the return to work, a dismissal motivated by the mental health condition may be discrimination on the grounds of disability under section 8 of the Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law (at an employer of six or more employees), and in any case a proper pre-dismissal hearing is required. Document the order of events (the date of return, the remarks made, the invitation to the hearing) and get advice before signing end-of-employment documents. A claim is filed with the Regional Labor Court.