Article 42 of the Law stipulates that caring for a sick child under 7 is one of cases in which employees to receive the sickness benefit. This policy aims to support working parents during the early years of their children's lives when they are more prone to illness and require direct care.

The law specifies exclusions that employees will not receive the sickness leave: Their leave to care for a child coincides with legally mandated time off; being in periods of fully paid leave under specialized laws and while receiving benefits of maternity convalescence & health rehabilitation under SI regulations.

Article 44 of the 2024 Law on SI stipulates the leave period for caring a sick child. In one year (from January 1 to December 31), an employee may take up to 20 working days of leave to care for a sick child under 3 years old. For children from 3 to under 7 years old, the maximum is 15 working days per child.

If both parents participate in mandatory SI, each parent is entitled to their own leave period, and the leave days are not combined. Leave duration is calculated based on working days, excluding public holidays, Tet, and weekly days off. Specifically, for a child under 3, each parent may take up to 20 working days. For a child from 3 to under 7, each parent may take up to 15 working days.

An employee is entitled to 75% of the salary used as the basis for payment of SI premiums of the month preceding the month in which he/she takes leave to care for the child.

The benefit level is calculated as follows:

- Benefit level per month = 75% × salary used as the basis for SI contributions of the month prior to leave.

- Benefit level per day = Benefit level per month ÷ 24 days.

- Benefit level per half-day = Benefit level per day ÷ 2.

These regulations offer greater flexibility for employees in taking leave to care for young children, particularly when the child only requires short-term health monitoring at home./.