# Employee Entitlements by Seniority

Quick-reference tables for calculating employee entitlements based on years of employment.

## Vacation Days (Annual Leave Law, 1951)

The Annual Leave Law table sets "gross" days counted on a 6-day calendar basis. In a 5-day workplace, the statutory "net" column reflects actual working days of absence (Fridays and Saturdays are excluded because they are weekly rest).

| Years of Employment | Gross Days (6-day calendar) | Net Working Days (5-day week) |
|---------------------|-----------------------------|-------------------------------|
| 1 | 16 | 12 |
| 2 | 16 | 12 |
| 3 | 16 | 12 |
| 4 | 16 | 12 |
| 5 | 16 | 12 |
| 6 | 18 | 14 |
| 7 | 21 | 15 |
| 8 | 22 | 16 |
| 9 | 23 | 17 |
| 10 | 24 | 18 |
| 11 | 25 | 19 |
| 12 | 26 | 20 |
| 13 | 27 | 20 |
| 14+ | 28 | 20 |

**Notes:**
- The "5/6 multiplier" commonly quoted online is a rough approximation; use the statutory table above for accuracy.
- Part-time employees: proportional to work days actually performed in the year (not to the headline position percentage).
- Accumulation: unused days can carry forward with employer consent to the following two years; collective agreements may extend this.
- Payout on termination: unused accumulated days must be paid (pidyon chufsha), SUBJECT TO the accrual cap (current year plus the two preceding) and the 3-year limitation on an Annual Leave Law claim, so do not simply sum every day ever accrued. Important carve-out: where the pay slip itself shows a larger accrued balance, the employee may be able to redeem those days at termination even beyond the limitation period, because the employer's own record acknowledges the debt. Check the pay slip before writing days off.
- Source: kolzchut.org.il, Annual Leave Law 1951 and the 2016 amendment.

## Sick Days (Sick Pay Law, 1976)

### Accrual Rate

| Period | Sick Days Accrued |
|--------|-------------------|
| Per month | 1.5 days |
| Per year | 18 days |
| Maximum accumulation | 90 days |

### Pay Rate During Sick Leave

| Sick Day | Pay Percentage | Example (Daily Wage NIS 500) |
|----------|---------------|------------------------------|
| Day 1 | 0% | NIS 0 |
| Day 2 | 50% | NIS 250 |
| Day 3 | 50% | NIS 250 |
| Day 4 | 100% | NIS 500 |
| Day 5 | 100% | NIS 500 |
| Day 6 | 100% | NIS 500 |
| Day 7 | 100% | NIS 500 |

### Child Sick Days (Machala Yeled)

| Child's Situation | Days Per Year (per parent) |
|-------------------|---------------------------|
| Child under 16 | 8 days |
| Child with a serious illness or a permanent disability | 18 days |
| Child with a malignant illness or on dialysis, where the other parent also takes leave | up to 90 days EACH (not a shared pool) |
| Child with a malignant illness or on dialysis, where the other parent did NOT take leave (needs 1 year tenure, child under 18) | up to 110 days |
| Single parent (sole custody), child under 16 | 16 days |

**The quota is per PARENT, not per child.** A parent of five children has the same 8 days as a parent
of one, and the quota does not scale with part-time hours. The second parent has a quota only where they also work AND did not take leave
for the child on the same days, so a household is not automatically 8 + 8. These days are drawn from the employee's accrued sick-day balance.
The 18-day entitlement for a child with a permanent disability may be charged against accrued sick days
OR vacation days at the employee's choice, and does not require the employer's consent.

## Convalescence Pay (Dmei Havra'a)

### Number of Days by Seniority

| Years of Employment | Convalescence Days |
|---------------------|-------------------|
| 1 | 5 |
| 2 | 6 |
| 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 7 |
| 5 | 7 |
| 6 | 7 |
| 7 | 7 |
| 8 | 7 |
| 9 | 7 |
| 10 | 7 |
| 11 | 8 |
| 12 | 8 |
| 13 | 8 |
| 14 | 8 |
| 15 | 8 |
| 16 | 9 |
| 17 | 9 |
| 18 | 9 |
| 19 | 9 |
| 20+ | 10 |

### Daily Rate (Private Sector)

| Year | Daily Rate (NIS) |
|------|-----------------|
| 2022 | 378 |
| 2023 | 418 |
| 2024 | 418 |
| 2025 | 418 |
| 2026 | 451.5 (in force, raised from 418 by the extension order of 18.08.2026) |

**2026 increase, now in force:** the extension order published on 18 August 2026 raised the private-sector rate from NIS 418 to NIS 451.5 for havra'a year 2026 (1.7.2025 to 30.6.2026). An employer who already paid at NIS 418 owes NIS 33.50 for each havra'a day. The applicable rate follows the havra'a year, not the payment date.

**Reservist-support deduction (2025-2026):** For each employee, the employer must deduct one day's worth of convalescence pay from the annual entitlement and transfer the equivalent amount to the Tax Authority to fund reservist benefits. This applies as long as the temporary order remains in force.

**Note:** The daily rate is updated by extension order. Public sector employees receive a higher rate (NIS 511.6 in 2026) per collective agreement. Check the Ministry of Economy website for the current rate.

### Calculation Example

Employee with 5 years of seniority (2026 rate, before reservist-support deduction):
```
Convalescence pay = 7 days x NIS 451.5 = NIS 3,160.50
After 1-day deduction: (7 - 1) x NIS 451.5 = NIS 2,709
```

Part-time employee (50% position) with 5 years:
```
Convalescence pay = 7 days x NIS 451.5 x 50% = NIS 1,580.25
After proportional 1-day deduction: (7 - 1) x NIS 451.5 x 50% = NIS 1,354.50
```

## Travel Reimbursement (Dmei Nesia, Travel-to-Work Extension Order)

| Parameter (2026) | Value |
|------------------|-------|
| Daily cap | NIS 22.60 per day |
| Reimbursement basis | The lower of actual public-transport fare (discounted multi-ride / monthly pass) or the daily cap |
| Carve-out | No reimbursement if the employee does not need public transport (workplace within walking distance, or employer provides organized transport) |
| Update cadence | Updated periodically by extension order, verify the current daily cap |

Source: kolzchut.org.il, Travel-to-Work Extension Order.

## Minimum Wage (Minimum Wage Law, 1987)

| Effective date | Monthly (full-time) | Hourly |
|----------------|---------------------|--------|
| 1 April 2026 | NIS 6,443.85 | NIS 35.40 |

**Notes:**
- Updated every April; verify the current figure before relying on it.
- The hourly figure applies to part-time and hourly employees; the monthly minimum is pro-rated for part-time positions.
- Youth (under 18) and apprentices have separate, lower statutory rates, enumerated below.

### Youth and apprentice minimum wage (from 1 April 2026)

Set by the Minimum Wage Regulations (Working Youth and Apprentices), 1987, and anchored in Minimum Wage Law s.16. Each band is a percentage of the adult monthly minimum (NIS 6,443.85). A full-time month for a youth is 40 hours a week, and the youth hourly rate is the youth monthly figure divided by 173 (the adult divisor is 182).

| Band | % of adult minimum | Monthly (up to 40 hrs/week) | Hourly (monthly / 173) |
|------|--------------------|-----------------------------|------------------------|
| Up to age 16 | 70% | NIS 4,510.7 | NIS 26.07 |
| Up to age 17 | 75% | NIS 4,832.89 | NIS 27.94 |
| Up to age 18 | 83% | NIS 5,348.4 | NIS 30.92 |
| Apprentice (chanich) | 60% | NIS 3,866.31 | NIS 22.35 |

**Notes:**
- An apprentice is a youth under 18 working to learn a trade through supervised practical work plus trade classes approved under the Apprenticeship Law. The 60% band follows the apprentice status, not the age.
- The 2018 cut of the work week to 42 hours, and the 182-hour full month, did not change the youth monthly or hourly minimum.
- In the month a youth has a birthday, pay is split pro-rata: the old band's rate up to the day before the birthday, the new band's rate from the birthday onward.
- Travel reimbursement, overtime and similar additions are not part of the minimum wage and must be paid on top of it.
- Source: kolzchut.org.il "תשלום שכר לבני נוער"; Minimum Wage Regulations (Working Youth and Apprentices), 1987.
- The minimum wage is a cogent statutory floor; a contract cannot set pay below it. Paying below the minimum exposes the employer to criminal and civil liability.
- Source: kolzchut.org.il, Minimum Wage Law 1987. Verify the current rate annually.

## Overtime and Weekly Rest Day (Hours of Work and Rest Law, 1951)

Overtime premiums sit in s.16 and the weekly-rest-day premium in s.17. On a rest day the two stack: both are computed on the ordinary wage and added, so the rest-day rate rises with the hour count instead of staying flat at 150%. The cumulative method reaches 200% and stops there.

| Hour | Weekday | Weekly rest day (Shabbat) |
|------|---------|---------------------------|
| Ordinary hours (within the daily norm) | 100% | 150% |
| First 2 overtime hours | 125% | 175% (150% + 25%) |
| Each overtime hour beyond the first 2 | 150% | 200% (150% + 50%) |

**Notes:**
- The rest-day column is the full rate for an hourly or daily paid employee. A monthly salaried employee already receives the 100% in the monthly salary, so the statutory entitlement is a 50% addition to the daily wage, plus compensatory rest that is paid (the employer may not deduct the substitute day off from salary, leave balance or sick balance). The hourly or daily employee gets 150% plus compensatory rest that is unpaid.
- Compensatory rest must be taken as actual time off. It cannot be converted to money, and unused compensatory rest is not redeemable on termination.
- A monthly employee may instead be given an hour and a half of rest for each rest-day hour worked, without any cut to that month's salary.
- Rest-day hours that are also overtime carry no pension or severance provisioning. Rest-day hours that fall inside the ordinary 42-hour week do carry provisioning, but only on the 100% base, not on the premium.
- An employee who worked the rest day without the employer's express or implied authorisation is not entitled to the premium.
- Where an agreement, contract or established practice gives a higher rate than the statute, the more favourable term applies.
- Source: kolzchut.org.il "גמול עבור העסקה במנוחה השבועית"; Hours of Work and Rest Law s.17.

## Notice Period (Prior Notice Law, 2001)

### Monthly Salaried Employees

| Employment Duration | Notice Period |
|--------------------|---------------|
| 1 month | 1 day |
| 2 months | 2 days |
| 3 months | 3 days |
| 4 months | 4 days |
| 5 months | 5 days |
| 6 months | 6 days |
| 7 months | 8.5 days |
| 8 months | 11 days |
| 9 months | 13.5 days |
| 10 months | 16 days |
| 11 months | 18.5 days |
| 12 months | 21 days |
| 1 year+ | 1 full month |

### Hourly/Daily Employees

| Employment Duration | Notice Period |
|--------------------|---------------|
| First year | 1 day per month worked |
| Second year | 14 days + 1 day per 2 months in year 2 |
| Third year | 21 days + 1 day per 2 months in year 3 |
| 3 years+ | 1 full month |

## Severance Pay (Severance Pay Law, 1963)

### Basic Formula

```
Severance = Last Monthly Salary x Years of Employment
```

### Partial Year Calculation

```
Severance = Last Monthly Salary x (Full Years + Remaining Months / 12)
```

### Income-Tax Exemption Ceiling

Severance is exempt from income tax up to the lower of:
- NIS 13,750 (2026) x years of employment, or
- 1.5 x last monthly salary x years of employment

The 13,750 figure is updated annually, verify the current ceiling. Severance above the ceiling is taxable; tax-spreading (perisat mas) may reduce the tax. Source: kolzchut.org.il, severance pay / income-tax exemption.

### Quick Reference

| Years | Months | Multiplier |
|-------|--------|------------|
| 1 | 0 | 1.00 |
| 1 | 6 | 1.50 |
| 2 | 0 | 2.00 |
| 3 | 0 | 3.00 |
| 3 | 4 | 3.33 |
| 5 | 0 | 5.00 |
| 10 | 0 | 10.00 |

### Section 14 Arrangement

When Section 14 applies (most common arrangement):
- Employer contributes to a pension/provident fund as severance: 6% is the extension-order minimum, 8.33% is the rate that fully funds the statutory severance and is required for a full Section 14 release
- Upon termination, the employee receives the **accumulated fund balance** (not the formula calculation)
- The fund balance may be higher or lower than the formula calculation depending on investment returns
- Employee retains the right to any difference if the fund balance is lower than the statutory amount (only if the employer did not fully comply with Section 14)

## Pension Contributions (Mandatory Since 2008)

| Component | Employee | Employer | Total |
|-----------|----------|----------|-------|
| Pension savings | 6.0% | 6.5% | 12.5% |
| Severance (minimum) | -- | 6% | 6% |
| **Total (extension-order minimum)** | **6.0%** | **12.5%** | **18.5%** |
| Severance where a full Section 14 arrangement applies | -- | 8.33% | 8.33% |
| **Total with a full Section 14 arrangement** | **6.0%** | **14.83%** | **20.83%** |

If the employer deposits only the 6% minimum, the accumulated severance component covers roughly 72%
of the statutory one-month-per-year, and the employee is owed a completion payment (hashlamat pitzuyim)
for the difference. Read the actual rate off the pay slip before assuming the fund balance is the whole
entitlement.

**Eligibility timeline:**
- Existing pension holders: contributions start from day 1
- New employees without pension: after 6 months of employment (paid retroactively to day 1)
- Contributions calculated on gross salary up to the insurable ceiling

### Section 45a Tax Credit on the Employee's 6%

The employee's 6% pension contribution qualifies for a 35% income-tax credit under Section 45a of the Income Tax Ordinance, applied automatically in payroll.

| Parameter (2026) | Value |
|------------------|-------|
| Credit rate | 35% of the qualifying employee contribution |
| Maximum employee contribution eligible for the full credit | up to 7% of salary |
| Annual ceiling on pension contributions eligible for the credit | approx. NIS 8,148 |
| Where it appears | Pay slip (tlush maskoret) and Form 106 |

Contributions above 7% of salary, or above the annual ceiling, do not receive the credit and remain fully taxable.

Source: [Kolzchut: Zikui pensioni](https://www.kolzchut.org.il/he/זיכוי_ממס_הכנסה_בגין_הפרשות_לביטוח_פנסיוני)


## 2026 changes

### Annual leave: carry-forward without employer consent (2026)

 Where the employer did not let the employee take leave during an emergency period, or the employee served a qualifying spell of consecutive reserve days, or was called up under a mandatory mobilisation order, the employee may accumulate the unused days and carry them forward for two years WITHOUT needing the employer's consent. This is an exception to the ordinary rule that carry-over requires employer agreement, so do not let an employer refuse it on the standard grounds.

### Short sick certificate (2026)

 For a brief absence the employee no longer necessarily needs a doctor's visit: the HMO can issue a short sick certificate (te'udat machala ktzara) automatically, without an appointment or a physician's signature. It is capped, both in how many times a year it can be issued and in how many cumulative days it can cover within a short window, and beyond those limits the ordinary medical certificate is still required. Have the employee confirm the current caps with their HMO. This removes the common situation where an employee lost a sick day because they could not get an appointment.


## Termination: getting the money out (the steps the entitlement tables do not cover)

### 1. Is the Section 14 arrangement actually valid?
This is the highest-value binary question at dismissal. Section 14 requires a SIGNED written arrangement
conforming to the General Approval, usually in the contract or a separate annex. Ask to see it.
- Valid and full: the employee receives the fund balance and the employer owes nothing further.
- Absent, partial, or funded below the full 1/12: the employee receives the fund balance PLUS a
  completion payment (hashlamat pitzuyim) up to the statutory one-month-per-year.
Deposits at the 6% extension-order minimum cover roughly 72% of statutory severance, so the completion
claim is the normal case, not the exception.

### 2. The release paperwork
The money usually sits in a pension or provident fund, not with the employer, so the entitlement alone
does not produce a payment. The chain: the employer completes PART A of the unified Form 161 (notice of
cessation of employment) and notifies the fund of the status of the severance monies; the employee then
completes PART B of the same form. Withdrawal generally also needs an employer release letter. Note the
older process used a separate Form 161A for the employee's part; if a source or an employer refers to
161A, it is describing the pre-unification procedure. The employee then elects between withdrawing under the exemption, retzef
kitzba (pension continuity) and retzef pitzuyim (severance continuity). That election is effectively
irreversible and shapes lifetime tax, so flag it as a decision to take advice on rather than a form to
tick.

### 3. Amounts due on termination that are easy to miss
- Proportional convalescence pay for the current entitlement year, plus redemption for prior years.
- Vacation redemption, subject to the accrual cap and the 3-year limitation above.
- Payment in lieu of notice (chalef hoda'a mukdemet) where the employer ends the employment
  immediately. Note this payment carries no pension or severance accrual, so the accrual stops at the
  termination date rather than the end of the notional notice period.
- Study fund (keren hishtalmut) release, where one exists. It is a second pot with its own paperwork.
- A written dismissal letter. It is needed for the unemployment claim, so ask for it before leaving.

### 4. Unemployment benefit (dmei avtala): the time-critical item
Entitlement is reckoned from registration at the Employment Service, so any delay is unrecoverable.
Register immediately, before sorting anything else out. The qualifying period is at least 12 months of
work within the 18 months preceding the 1st of the month of first registration; alternatively, 12 of the
18 months preceding the day work stopped, provided the employee registers within 3 months of stopping.
That alternative is the reason registering promptly matters even for someone who is not ready to job-hunt.
Bring the dismissal letter and recent pay slips, so ask the employer for a written dismissal letter BEFORE
leaving. A waiting period applies before payment begins, and a substantially longer one applies where the
separation is recorded as a resignation rather than a dismissal, which is why the wording of that letter
matters. Maximum benefit days and the replacement rate are banded by age and dependants. Confirm the
current day-count, rates and waiting periods with Bituach Leumi rather than quoting them from memory.

### 5. The pre-dismissal hearing (shimua), in practice
Compensation for a defective hearing is awarded as non-pecuniary damages WITHOUT proof of damage, which
is the decisive point: the employee can claim even if they lost no money. What a proper hearing
requires: a written invitation with reasonable advance notice AND the specific grounds; access to the
material relied on; a real opportunity to respond, in writing if preferred; and a genuine decision after
the hearing. A decision letter issued the same day is evidence the outcome was predetermined. Attending
under protest does not waive the objection.

### 6. Limitation periods differ by claim
- Wages and severance: 7 years.
- Vacation redemption: 3 years.
- Halanat sachar / halanat pitzuyim: 60 days from receiving the late payment (extendable to 90 by the
  court), or one year from the sum falling due, whichever is earlier.
Check the shortest applicable period first, because it is usually the halana one and it is the one that
expires while the employee is still negotiating.

### 7. Where to file
Employment disputes go to the regional labour court, NOT small claims. There are five (Tel Aviv,
Jerusalem, Haifa, Be'er Sheva, Nazareth). An employee may appear without a lawyer, and the state legal
aid bureau covers employment matters subject to means. If the employer is insolvent, Bituach Leumi
guarantees wage and severance debts up to a ceiling, claimed through the appointed trustee, so an
employee facing a collapsed company should be pointed there rather than at the empty company.


### Paid leave for the spouse of a reservist (extension order, 29 April 2026)

This is the SPOUSE's own entitlement, separate from the reservist's rights (for those, use israeli-miluim-manager). An employee whose partner is serving reserve duty is entitled to additional PAID absence days beyond the ordinary statutory leave, where they have at least one child under 14, a child up to 18 with a malignant illness, caring responsibility for a relative with a disability, or a sick parent. The number of days rises with the partner's cumulative reserve days in the calendar year. Two practical points: the days can be used only while the partner is actually in active reserve service, and they can be taken as partial hours rather than whole days. Tell the employee the entitlement exists and have them confirm the current day-count against the extension order, since the figures were set recently and are the part most likely to be misquoted. Employees frequently do not know this exists at all, because it attaches to the partner's service rather than their own.