The Knesset's Labor and Welfare Committee approved for its second and third readings a bill to allow the parents of a hospitalized infant to share the time spent at their child's bedside.

If passed, the bill will allow parents of any infant who requires hospitalization immediately after birth to both take time off work, and receive sick pay for it.

The bill began as a modest proposal focused only on preemies, but was then greatly expanded, thanks to efforts by the Committee's chairman, MK Israel Eichler (United Torah Judaism).

"I am not willing to begin differentiating between one child and another already in the hospital," Eicher said. His statement led to an attempt to expand the bill to cover all types of hospitalizations.

Under the bill, each parent will receive 20 sick days, so long as the infant was hospitalized for at least two weeks. The parents will be able to choose whether to take these days as vacation days or sick days, and will be able to split them between themselves throughout the period of the hospitalization, without their rights at work being affected.

The best part? If a parent takes two or three days at the start of the hospitalization period, and then comes back a few days later, the time off will be considered consecutive. This is important, because the first sick day is usually unpaid, while the second and third are at 50% pay; only from the fourth consecutive sick day does the employee receive full pay.

"This is a real revolution," added MK Yinon Azulai (Shas), who submitted the original bill. "The parents will finally be able to share the time at the baby's bedside without worrying about losing work days."