Israel, Arabic Isrāʾīl, officially the State of Israel or Hebrew Medinat Yisraʾel, is a country in the Middle East, located at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. Jerusalem is the seat of government and the proclaimed capital, although the latter status has not received wide international recognition. Jews constitute about three-fourths of the total population of Israel. Almost all the rest are Palestinian Arabs, of whom most (roughly three-fourths) are Muslim; the remaining Arabs are Christians and Druze.
*Please note that the official currency is the currency of remuneration when employed through WorkMotion in Israel.
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Capital :
Jerusalem
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Currency :
New Israeli Shekel (ILS, ₪)
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Languages spoken :
Hebrew, Arabic, English
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Population :
9.36 million (2021 est.)
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Minimum wage 2023 :
ILS 5,571.75 Monthly
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Cost of Living index :
$$$$ (7 of 139 countries)
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Payroll Frequency :
Monthly
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VAT - standard rate :
17%
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GDP - real growth rate :
8.2% (2021 est.)
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The national holidays mentioned below are valid for the year 2023.
The approximate time for sharing the contract with an employee in Israel is 7 business days assuming no special requests or changes to our standard employment contract. Any such requests or changes would need to undergo internal and external review, directly leading to a time delay.
NOTE: This number is subject to change and is only an estimation of the Contract Sharing Time. The estimated Contract Sharing Time begins from the moment that WorkMotion has received all required information from both the client and the employee.
A working day should not exceed eight working hours. A working week should not exceed 42 working hours. The working day should not exceed seven working hours in night work on the day preceding the weekly rest and on the day preceding a festival on which an employee is not employed, whether by law or by agreement or custom.
The total overtime of the employee during the whole week must not exceed 16 hours, and in any case, an employee may not be employed for more than 12 hours a day (including overtime). As a rule, it is forbidden to make an employee work overtime without a permit from the Minister of Labor. An employer should pay an employee who is employed for over-time hours a wage not less than 1¼ times the ordinary wage for the first two over-time hours in any one day, and not less than 1½ times the ordinary wage for all subsequent over-time hours.
Labor legislation does not regulate trial periods. Most collective agreements have trial periods ranging from six months to three years. The most common length of trial periods in collective agreements is six-24 months.
Employers have the power to extend trial periods under certain circumstances. However, even dismissals within the trial period must be fair and just and on a basis of reasonable discretion by the employer. This interpretation is an outcome of the Labor Courts’ decisions.
The termination notice periods depend on length of employment service as follows:
| Employment Service | Notice for Monthly Salaried Workers | Notice for Daily or Hourly Workers |
| Less than 6 months | 1 day per month of service | 1 day per month of service |
| 6 to 12 months | 6 days plus 2.5 days per month of service beyond 6 months | 1 day per month of service |
| More than 1 year | 1 month |
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An employee whose workplace has a five-day workweek is entitled to five days of absence from work for every seven days of vacation accrued by law. An employee who has a six-day workweek at their place of work is entitled to six days of absence from work for every seven days of leave accrued by law.
The length of vacation for each year of employment for five-day workweek employees is:
| Employment Duration | Annual Leave
(Gross including Fridays and Saturdays) |
| For each of the first 5 years | 16 days |
| For the 6th to 8th year | 23 days |
| For the 9th and more years | 31 days |
A worker is entitled to 1.5 Sick Days for every month that they work (up to 18 days per year), provided they have a doctor’s written note. Employees can accumulate up to 90 sick days.
According to the Sick Pay Law:
Men or women undergoing fertility treatments are entitled to be absent from work at the expense of their sick days. Employees can miss individual hours instead of a full day of work, up to a cap of 40 hours a year (relative to the hours worked), and in this case, they get sick pay from the first hour missed.
Intended parents are entitled to unpaid leave after maternity leave. The benefit is given to one of the two parents of their choice. The maximum length of leave is a quarter of the period during which the parent worked at the same workplace and not more than a year after the birth of the child. Further, an employee whose spouse has given birth and been hospitalized for at least 15 days may be absent from work for up to four weeks during the period of hospitalization on unpaid leave. The employee may be absent from work only if his spouse has chosen to split the maternity leave due to hospitalization.
An employee who has worked consecutively for at least one year for an employer or in the same place of employment is entitled to a maternity leave of 26 weeks (only part of which is paid). Employees who have worked less than 12 months for the same employer are entitled to 15 weeks of maternity leave (some or all of which is paid, in accordance with the conditions for eligibility for a maternity allowance).
An employee’s entitlement to receive a maternity allowance during maternity leave is determined on the basis of the period for which she made National Insurance payments.
| Period of Payment of Maternity Allowance | Period that National Insurance Contributions were Paid |
| 15 weeks | If the mother paid National Insurance contributions for 10 of the 14 months that preceded stopping to work, or 15 of the 22 months that preceded her stopping to work. |
| 8 weeks | If the mother paid National Insurance contributions for 6 of the 14 months that preceded her stopping to work. |
An employee whose spouse has a child may be absent from work without obtaining the consent of the employer, up to five calendar days after the day of birth. The first three days of absence from work are considered as annual leave. These days are deducted from the quota of annual vacation days, and the employee is entitled to vacation pay (full pay) for them. If the employee does not have enough accumulated vacation days, the absence is considered an unpaid vacation.
An employee who has adopted a child over the age of 10 after working for at least 12 months for the same employer or at the same workplace is entitled to maternity leave (period of birth and parenthood) of 26 weeks.
During the leave the employee is not entitled to a wage payment, but they may be entitled to an adoption fee for 15 weeks from the National Insurance Institute, depending on the conditions.
The number of convalescence days is calculated according to the seniority accumulated by the employee in the workplace. The following table lists the number of convalescence days paid by the employer for employees in the private sector:
| Years of Seniority of the Employee | Number of Convalescence Days |
| 1st year | 5 days |
| 2 to 3 years | 6 days |
| 4 to 10 years | 7 days |
| 11 to 15 years | 8 days |
| 16 to 19 years | 9 days |
| Year 20 onwards | 10 days |
An employee is entitled to a convalescence allowance only after completing their first year of work in the workplace.
Workers of all religions are entitled to the payment of their wages if they were absent from work due to days of mourning for a first-degree relative. This leave is granted for no more than seven calendar days (i.e. days including weekly rest days). Eligibility is recognized provided that the employee has worked for at least three months in the workplace.
Employers should pay a full day’s salary for any employee working at least 14 days prior to election day. Employers may give employees a choice to either work or take the day off.
If the employee agrees to work on election day, the employer must either pay:
An employee may, with the consent of the employer, go on unpaid leave without the employment relationship being severed. The duration of the unpaid leave is in accordance with the agreement of the parties.
An employee with at least six consecutive months of experience in the workplace staying in a shelter for women victims of violence is entitled to be absent from work for up to six months out of the 12 months following the beginning of her stay in the shelter. The employee’s period of absence from work is considered as unpaid leave, which is not taken into account when calculating seniority-dependent rights.
The National Insurance Institute provides services and information on pregnancy and childbirth, disabilities, injuries and illness, children, the elderly, and termination of employment.
Rates of National Insurance contributions and health insurance contributions for resident employees:
| Category | From the Wage Division up to 60% of
the Average Wage – (reduced rate) – ILS 6,331. |
| National Insurance Contributions* | 3.55% |
| Health Insurance Premiums | Not paid |
| Pension Insurance** | 12.5% |
| Disability Insurance | 2.5% |
*From the salary portion above 60% of the average salary to the maximum income that is subject to insurance premiums (Full Rate), a contribution of 7.6% is paid by the employer to a maximum limit of ILS 45,075.
**6.5% goes towards benefits and 6% towards compensation.
The employer does not pay for health insurance. However, the employer should deduct health insurance premiums from the hired employee’s salary according to the following calculation:
3.10% of the portion of their salary that is up to 60% of the average salary and 5.00% of the portion of the salary that is above 60% of the average salary up to the maximum monthly income liable for insurance premiums (NIS 47,465, as of 2023).
Insured persons who have been injured in a work accident or occupational disease or microtrauma injury, and are unable to work according to a medical certificate, are entitled to injury benefits as compensation for the loss of wages or income. The injury allowance is paid for the period of time during which the injured have not worked, and for a maximum period of 13 weeks the day after the injury (which is 91 days including Saturdays and holidays).
For the day of the injury, no injury allowance is paid by the National Insurance Institute, however, the employer pays the wages of the employees for this day.
Beneficiaries who have worked as employees for 12 months out of the last 18 months before registration with the Employment Bureau, have registered with the Employment Bureau as required, and filed a claim, are eligible for unemployment benefits. The age of entitlement for unemployment benefits is between 20 and 67 years. If the employee received unemployment benefits in the 11 months prior to the start of their first required job, they are paid a reduced rate grant. A person who has filed a claim for unemployment benefits is not paid for the first five days of unemployment in all four consecutive months of registration with the employment service.
The retirement age is 67 years for men and 62 years for women. According to the Retirement Age Law, the mandatory retirement age from work in Israel is 67 for women and men. Subject to legal arrangements provided by law, collective bargaining agreements, or individual agreements – it is sometimes possible to continue working beyond the mandatory retirement age.
Every employee who has reached the age of 21 and an employee who has reached the age of 20 are entitled to provisions for pension insurance (pension fund, provident fund, or executive insurance). The contribution rate is 18.5%, of which 6% is at the expense of the employee and the employer pays 12.5%.
A woman (or adoptive parents) who gives birth is entitled to a maternity grant from the National Insurance Institute regardless of her work status. The hospital lodges the claim to the Institute.
Families living in Israel receive a monthly allowance to assist in covering expenses associated with raising children under the age of 18. The child allowance amount is calculated according to the number of children in the family, their birth dates, and the entitlement of one of the parents to subsistence benefits from the National Insurance Institute.
In the event of the death of a person who received an old-age pension from the National Insurance Institute, their survivors are entitled to a one-time death grant.
Survivors’ pension is intended to ensure a means of subsistence for the survivors – widows, widowers, and orphans, of the deceased residents of Israel. The pension is paid by the National Insurance Institute to all Israeli residents who were insured. If the insurance requirements are not met, a one-time grant of 36 months’ survivors’ monthly benefits is paid.
The information contained in this Country Guide is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject matter. The contents of this Country Guide contain general information and may not reflect current legal developments or address your situation. You should not act or refrain from acting on the basis of any content included in this Country Guide without seeking the advice or representation of a licensed attorney. WorkMotion Software GmbH disclaims all liability for actions you take or fail to take based on any content included in this Country Guide.
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