Service page: A claim against an employer for wages, pension and overtime.
For the practical steps, see: Wage claim against an employer
What do you do when your wages were not paid on time?
- Check the dates. A monthly wage is due at the end of the month (section 9 of the Wage Protection Law). Wages not paid by the ninth day after that are “delayed wages” (section 1). The calculator below calculates the late-wage compensation.
- Send a written demand. A letter that sets out the delayed wages and the late-wage compensation records the demand and its date. Keep a copy.
- Collect the documents. Payslips, the employment agreement, correspondence with the employer, and evidence of the dates you worked.
- File a claim on time. In the Regional Labor Court. You must claim the late-wage compensation within one year from the day the wages are treated as delayed. If you received the wages, the deadline is 60 days from receipt, if that is earlier (section 17A).
- Was an order made against the employer in insolvency proceedings? Claim the benefit from the National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi) (sections 182 and 189 of the National Insurance Law [Consolidated Version], 5755-1995). Claim the rest of the debt in the insolvency proceedings.
Where to apply:
- The Regional Labor Court: the claim for the wages and the late-wage compensation.
- The National Insurance Institute: when an order was made against the employer in insolvency proceedings (section 182 of the National Insurance Law).
Late-wage compensation calculator under section 17
The calculator is correct as of 4 October 2026, under sections 1, 9, 17 and 18 of the Wage Protection Law. It calculates the two alternatives in section 17(a) of the Wage Protection Law and shows the higher of the two. The calculation is done in your browser only: the data is not sent and is not stored.
Delayed wages: wages not paid by the determining day (section 1).
Monthly wage: the last day of the month for which it is paid (section 9). Wages by the hour, day, week or piece: under section 10.
If the wages have not been paid yet, enter the date for which you want to calculate.
For the alternative in section 17(a)(2), use the rate of increase between two indices (the definition of “linkage differentials” in section 1). The first is the index last published before the due date. The second is the index last published before the payment date. You can check it in the Central Bureau of Statistics linkage calculator (in Hebrew). The calculator does not fetch index data; an empty field = 0.
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The summary includes the data you entered and the result, including the amounts. It opens for editing, and it is sent only if you send it yourself.
Section 18: the Regional Labor Court may reduce or cancel the late-wage compensation. It must be satisfied that the wages were not paid on time for one of three reasons: a genuine mistake, a circumstance beyond the employer’s control, or a real dispute about whether the debt exists. And the amount that was not in dispute must have been paid on time.
- Weeks and months are counted from the date the wages were due, as section 17(a) says. Part of a week counts as a week; part of a month is calculated proportionally (the calculator: by the number of days in that month).
- Limitation: the right to compensation, as opposed to the wages, becomes time-barred if no claim was filed in time. The deadline is one year from the day the wages are treated as delayed, or 60 days from the day the wages were received, whichever is earlier. The court may extend the 60 days to 90. Where the wages were delayed three times within 12 consecutive months, the period is three years (section 17A). The calculator does not calculate the limitation date.
- Sometimes an order was made against the employer in insolvency or liquidation proceedings. Then the trustee or the liquidator does not have to pay late-wage compensation, and may set linkage differentials (section 19).
- Compensation for late payment of severance pay is calculated under section 20, and the calculator does not calculate it.
- The wording of the sections this tool applies was last checked on 4 October 2026.
An arithmetic estimate based on the data entered: not advice, and not a commitment to any outcome.
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What happens after you write to me
- You write what happened and with whom. No documents.
- I get back to you within one business day for a short call of a few minutes.
- If it is a matter I handle: after the call you will receive, in writing, what will be done and what the next step is. Work starts only after you approve.
At the end of the call you will know one of three things: it is a matter I handle, and what the next step is; you can manage without a lawyer, and which guide fits; or it is outside my field, and where to turn.
Sample calculation: wages delayed by one month
A hypothetical example: unpaid wages of NIS 10,000; due date 30 September 2026; actually paid 31 October 2026; index change 0%. According to the calculator, the determining day is 9 October 2026, so the wages are delayed (section 1). The period of delay is 31 days, that is, 5 weeks. Under alternative 1, 45% of the delayed wages = NIS 4,500 (section 17(a)(1)). Under alternative 2, linkage differentials of NIS 0 plus 20% a month for a period of 1.03 months = NIS 2,065 (section 17(a)(2)). The late-wage compensation is the higher of the two, NIS 4,500, in addition to the wages themselves (section 17(a)). The calculation follows the wording of section 17 as of 4 October 2026, and the court may reduce or cancel the compensation (section 18).
And when does the compensation become time-barred in the same example? The wages were received on 31 October 2026. The late-wage compensation must be claimed by the earlier of two dates. The first is 60 days from the day the wages were received, that is, 30 December 2026. The day of receipt is not counted (section 10(a) of the Interpretation Law, 5741-1981). The second is one year from the day the wages are treated as delayed (October 2027). So the last date is 30 December 2026. The Regional Labor Court may extend the 60 days to 90 (section 17A(a) of the Wage Protection Law). The short deadline applies only to the late-wage compensation. If the wages themselves were not paid, the claim for them becomes time-barred, as a rule, within seven years (section 5 of the Prescription Law, 5718-1958).
What is late payment of wages?
Under the Wage Protection Law, a monthly wage is due at the end of the month for which it is paid (section 9). Wages not paid by the ninth day after that (the “determining day”) are “delayed wages” (section 1). Delayed wages entitle the employee to compensation for late payment of wages (section 17).
Late salary: I didn’t get my salary by the 10th of the month. What do I do?
A monthly wage is due at the end of the month for which it is paid (section 9 of the Wage Protection Law). Wages not paid by the ninth day after that, the “determining day”, are “delayed wages” (section 1). So a September salary not paid by 9 October is delayed wages, and late-wage compensation is added to it (section 17). What to do: send the employer a written demand to pay the wages and the late-wage compensation, and keep a copy. If they are not paid, file a claim in the Regional Labor Court. Pay attention to the short limitation period for the late-wage compensation (section 17A). You can calculate the compensation for your date with the late-wage compensation calculator.
Calculating compensation for late payment of wages: the two alternatives in section 17
(a) There shall be added to delayed wages the higher of the following amounts (hereinafter – compensation for late payment of wages):
(1) for the first week after the date for payment of the wages – one twentieth of the delayed wages, and for each week or part of a week after that – one tenth of the delayed wages;
(2) linkage differentials for the period from the date for payment of the wages until the day of their payment, plus 20% of the total amount of the delayed wages and the said linkage differentials for each month in the said period; for part of a month, the said 20% addition shall be paid proportionally.
(b) Compensation for late payment of wages shall be part of the wages for all purposes, except for the purpose of this section.
| Topic | The rule | Section |
|---|---|---|
| When a monthly wage is due | At the end of the month for which it is paid | 9 |
| When wages by the hour, day, week or piece are due | If no other date was set in a collective agreement or an employment contract: at the end of the half-month in which the employee worked, subject to the exception in the section | 10 |
| The determining day and “delayed wages” | The ninth day after the due date; wages not paid by then are delayed wages | 1 |
| Compensation, alternative 1 | 5% of the delayed wages for the first week after the due date, and 10% for each week or part of a week after that | 17(a)(1) |
| Compensation, alternative 2 | Linkage differentials from the due date to the payment date, plus 20% a month on the delayed wages and the linkage differentials; for part of a month, proportionally | 17(a)(2) |
| Which alternative | The higher of the two amounts | 17(a) |
| Reduction or cancellation | The Regional Labor Court may do so for a genuine mistake, a circumstance beyond the employer’s control, or a real dispute about whether the debt exists, provided the amount that was not in dispute was paid on time | 18 |
| Limitation period for the compensation | One year from the day the wages are treated as delayed, or 60 days from the day the wages were received, whichever is earlier; the court may extend the 60 days to 90 | 17A(a) |
| Repeated late payment | Three late payments within 12 consecutive months (within the three years after the payment date): the limitation period is three years | 17A(b) |
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When can you sue for late-wage compensation, and when does the court reduce it?
The court may reduce or cancel the late-wage compensation in three cases (section 18 of the Law). The wages were not paid on time because of a genuine mistake. Or because of a circumstance beyond the employer’s control. Or because of a real dispute about whether the debt exists. In each case, the amount that was not in dispute must have been paid on time. If the employer relies on one of these, you have the right to dispute that claim.
The right to compensation for late payment of wages (as opposed to the wages themselves) becomes time-barred at the earlier of two dates. One is a year from the day the wages are treated as delayed. The other is 60 days from the day the employee received the delayed wages. The court may extend the 60 days to 90. For repeated late payment (three times within 12 months), the limitation period is three years (section 17A of the Wage Protection Law). Note: this is a short limitation period, so do not wait.
(a) The right to compensation for late payment of wages, as opposed to wages, shall become time-barred if no claim was filed with a Regional Court within the meaning of the Labor Court Law, 5729-1969 (hereinafter – Regional Court) within one year from the day on which the wages are treated as delayed, or within 60 days from the day on which the employee received the wages to which the compensation relates, whichever is earlier; however, the Regional Court may extend the period of 60 days to a period of 90 days.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), if the employer delayed the employee’s wages, or part of them, three times in a period of twelve consecutive months within the three consecutive years after the day of payment of the wages to which the compensation relates, the limitation period shall be the said three years.
What an accounting review checks in a late-wages claim
Late-wage compensation is calculated for each payment separately, so the right amount is built from a table, not from an estimate. The review goes through:
- The due date of each component: the monthly wage, overtime and other payments that are “wages”. A component paid in a later month is a separate payment, with its own days of delay.
- Partial payments: how much was paid in each transfer, and what remained delayed. The transfers are cross-checked against the bank statements.
- The two alternatives in section 17: percentages by weeks, or linkage differentials plus 20% a month. Over a long period, or when the index rises, the result can change.
- The limitation dates of each payment: one year from the day it became delayed, or 60 days from receipt, whichever is earlier. A payment that has become time-barred is left out of the calculation.
- The deductions: is each deduction from the wages allowed under section 25 of the Wage Protection Law? And was what was deducted for pension actually transferred to the fund?
Filing a claim for late payment of wages: how do you do it?
Some claims for late payment of wages are heard as an expedited proceeding in the Regional Labor Court (section 31 of the Labor Court Law, 5729-1969). This applies when the amount does not exceed NIS 40,700 (in 2026), without the late-wage compensation, linkage differentials and interest. The amount is set in regulation 1 of the Labor Court Regulations (Determination of the Claim Amount in Expedited Proceedings), 5750-1990 (תקנות בית הדין לעבודה (קביעת סכום התביעה בדיון מהיר), התש״ן-1990). These claims can also be filed without a lawyer. The proceeding is relatively quick and accessible.
Before you file, send a formal letter: a letter of demand that sets out the delayed wages and the late-wage compensation. It records the demand and makes the exposure clear to the employer. Keep a copy of all correspondence.
The documents for the claim: payslips, the employment contract, correspondence with the employer, and evidence of the dates the work was done. You file the form with the Regional Labor Court nearest to your place of work. See also: A wage claim against an employer.
Paying wages late compared with deducting from wages
Sometimes the employer does not pay late; it deducts. Deductions are allowed only from the closed list in section 25 of the Wage Protection Law. The list includes compulsory deductions under law (such as income tax and National Insurance (Bituach Leumi) contributions) and a disciplinary fine under a collective agreement or legislation. It also includes a debt under the employee’s written undertaking (up to a quarter of the wages), advances on account of the wages, and others. A deduction that is not lawful is treated in law as delayed wages.
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What if the employer went bankrupt?
Sometimes an order is made against the employer in insolvency proceedings. Then the National Insurance Institute pays employees a benefit for debts of wages and severance pay, under Chapter H of the National Insurance Law [Consolidated Version], 5755-1995. The ceiling is 13 times the “basic amount” for each employee (section 183(a)). The priority of wage and severance debts in insolvency proceedings is set in section 234 of the Insolvency and Economic Rehabilitation Law, 5778-2018 (חוק חדלות פירעון ושיקום כלכלי, התשע״ח-2018). The benefit is claimed from the National Insurance Institute, and the rest of the debt is claimed in the insolvency proceedings.
When is it worth contacting a lawyer?
- The employer pays wages late again and again. Three late payments within 12 consecutive months extend the limitation period for the late-wage compensation to three years (section 17A(b) of the Wage Protection Law).
- The employer claims a genuine mistake, or a dispute about whether the debt exists, in order to reduce the late-wage compensation (section 18).
- The wage was paid late. As a rule, you must claim the late-wage compensation within 60 days of receiving the wage, or within one year of the day it became delayed, whichever is earlier (section 17A of the Wage Protection Law).
- You have no payslips or attendance records, or the claim includes several components together: wages, overtime, pension and severance pay.
You can also do it without a lawyer: employees can appear in the Labor Court themselves. A claim for an amount up to the amount set in the regulations is heard as an expedited proceeding (section 31 of the Labor Court Law). When the dates are clear and you have the payslips, you can calculate the compensation with the calculator and send a letter of demand yourself.
Frequently asked questions
My salary came in a few days after the start of the month. Is that late payment of wages?
For late-wage compensation, only if it was not paid by the 9th of the month. A monthly wage is due at the end of the month for which it is paid (section 9 of the Wage Protection Law). It becomes “delayed wages” if it was not paid by the “determining day”, the ninth day after the due date (section 1). A September salary paid by 9 October does not give a right to compensation. From 10 October it is delayed wages, and the compensation is counted from the due date (section 17(a)). For wages by the hour, day or week, the date is set in section 10.
How is compensation for late payment of wages calculated?
The higher of two amounts is added to the delayed wages (section 17(a) of the Wage Protection Law). The first is 5% of the delayed wages for the first week after the due date, and 10% for each week or part of a week after that. The second is linkage differentials plus 20% for each month, on the delayed wages and the linkage differentials. For part of a month, it is proportional. The compensation is part of the wages for all purposes, except for section 17 itself (section 17(b)). You can calculate the amount for your dates with the calculator on this page.
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How long do you have to sue for late-wage compensation?
The right to compensation, as opposed to the wages themselves, becomes time-barred unless a claim is filed with the Regional Labor Court in time. The deadline is one year from the day the wages are treated as delayed, or 60 days from receiving the wages, whichever is earlier. The court may extend the 60 days to 90 (section 17A(a) of the Wage Protection Law). Where the wages were delayed three times within 12 consecutive months, the limitation period is three years (section 17A(b)). This does not apply to compensation for which the one-year period has already passed (section 17A(c)).
The employer says it was a mistake. Is it exempt from compensation for the late payment?
Not automatically. The Regional Labor Court may reduce or cancel the late-wage compensation (section 18 of the Wage Protection Law). It must be satisfied that the wages were not paid on time because of a genuine mistake, a circumstance beyond the employer’s control, or a real dispute about whether the debt exists. The amount that was not in dispute must have been paid on time. The decision belongs to the court, not to the employer.
Where do you file a claim for late payment of wages?
To the Regional Labor Court. The Regional Court has exclusive jurisdiction over claims between an employee and an employer that arise from the employment relationship (section 24(a)(1) of the Labor Court Law). So a wage claim is not filed in the Magistrates’ Court or in small claims. Some claims are heard as an expedited proceeding (section 31 of the Law). This applies when the amount does not exceed NIS 40,700 (in 2026), without the late-wage compensation, linkage differentials and interest.
Can you resign because of late payment of wages and get severance pay?
Some resignations are treated as dismissal for the purpose of severance pay (section 11(a) of the Severance Pay Law, 5723-1963). This applies when the employee resigns because of a material deterioration in working conditions. It also applies when, in the circumstances, the employee cannot be expected to continue working. Repeated or long-lasting late payment can be such a circumstance, and this is assessed on the facts. Before resigning, it is worth telling the employer in writing what was not paid, giving them time to fix it, and keeping the correspondence.
Checklist
- The payday in the contract or the collective agreement, if it is earlier than the end of the month.
- The ninth day after the due date: from then on, they are “delayed wages”.
- The date of each actual transfer, and its amount.
- The last date to claim the late-wage compensation is the earlier of two dates: 60 days from receiving the wages, or one year from the day they became delayed (section 17A(a)).
- Whether the employer delayed the wages three times within 12 consecutive months: if so, the limitation period for the compensation is three years (section 17A(b)).
- A written demand that was sent, and a copy of it.