Limitation period for wage and employment claims: what becomes time-barred and when

Service page: A claim against an employer for wages, pension and overtime.

The rule: seven years from the day the cause of action arose

Under the Prescription Law, 5718-1958, a claim that does not concern land becomes time-barred within seven years (section 5(1)), and the period starts on the day the cause of action arose (section 6). This is also the rule in wage and employment claims, such as wages, overtime and severance pay, unless a specific law sets a different period.

Limitation does not cancel the right itself. It is a defense argument: if the defendant raised limitation at the first opportunity after the claim was filed, the court will not consider a claim that has become time-barred (sections 2 and 3).

Claims between an employee and an employer arising from the employment relationship are heard in the Regional Labor Court, which has exclusive jurisdiction over them (section 24(a)(1) of the Labor Court Law, 5729-1969 (חוק בית הדין לעבודה, התשכ״ט-1969)).

From when do you count?

The practical question is when the cause of action arose for each item. A monthly wage, for example, is due at the end of the month for which it is paid (section 9 of the Wage Protection Law, 5718-1958).

Severance pay is owed to someone who was dismissed, under the conditions in section 1(a) of the Severance Pay Law, 5723-1963 (חוק פיצויי פיטורים, התשכ״ג-1963), or to someone who resigned in circumstances that the law treats as dismissal (see Resignation deemed dismissal). For late-wage compensation, the date for paying severance pay is as a rule the day the employment relationship ended (section 20(a)(1) of the Wage Protection Law).

What becomes time-barred sooner

Several employment laws set a short period of their own. These are the main ones, according to the text of the laws today:

• Annual leave. “The limitation period for any claim under this Law, whether civil or criminal, is three years” (section 31 of the Annual Leave Law, 5711-1951). This Law is also the source of vacation redemption: an employee who stopped working before receiving the leave owed to them is entitled to payment for unused leave (section 13).
• Compensation for late payment of wages. A wage not paid by the ninth day after its due date is a “late wage” (section 1 of the Wage Protection Law). The right to late-wage compensation, as distinct from the wage itself, becomes time-barred if no claim was filed with the Regional Labor Court within one year from the day the wage is deemed late, or within 60 days from the day the employee received the wage, whichever is earlier; the court may extend the 60 days to 90 (section 17A(a)). When the employer paid wages late three times within 12 consecutive months that fall within the three years after the wage payment day, the limitation period is those three years (section 17A(b)), but not for compensation that already became time-barred at the end of the year (section 17A(c)). The same rules apply, with the necessary changes, to compensation for late payment of severance pay (section 20(d)).
• Harm to an employee who exposed an offense. A claim under the Protection of Employees (Exposure of Offenses and Harm to Integrity or Proper Administration) Law, 5757-1997 (חוק הגנה על עובדים (חשיפת עבירות ופגיעה בטוהר המידות או במינהל התקין), התשנ״ז-1997) must be filed within three years from the day the cause of action arose. A period of up to two years, from the day a complaint on the same matter was filed with the Commissioner for Complaints from the Public (Ombudsman) until the handling of it ended, is not counted (section 5).
• Workers organizing. A civil claim over preventing a representative of a workers’ organization (trade union) from entering the workplace, or over dismissal, a worsening of conditions or refusal to hire because of membership or activity in a workers’ organization or a workers’ committee, among other things, must be filed within three years from the day the cause of action arose (sections 33I, 33J and 33M of the Collective Agreements Law, 5717-1957 (חוק הסכמים קיבוציים, התשי״ז-1957)).

Longer periods and special periods

• Discrimination at work. A civil claim over a breach of the Employment (Equal Opportunities) Law, 5748-1988 (חוק שוויון ההזדמנויות בעבודה, התשמ״ח-1988) can be filed within five years from the day the cause of action arose, and a claim by a job applicant within three years (section 14, as worded since Amendment No. 27, published on 1 December 2024; before that the period was three years).
• Equal pay. The limitation period for a claim under the Equal Pay (Female and Male Employees) Law, 5756-1996 (חוק שכר שווה לעובדת ולעובד, התשנ״ו-1996) is five years (section 7A).
• Sexual harassment and retaliation. A claim over the civil wrong, and also a claim against an employer who did not take the measures in section 7, is subject to the period in section 5 of the Prescription Law from the day the cause of action arose, and the special rules in sections 18A and 18B of the Prescription Law do not apply to it (section 6(c) of the Prevention of Sexual Harassment Law, 5758-1998 (חוק למניעת הטרדה מינית, התשנ״ח-1998)).
• Recuperation pay. The Extension Order on Employer Participation in Recuperation and Vacation Expenses (צו הרחבה בדבר השתתפות המעביד בהוצאות הבראה ונופש) (Yalkut HaPirsumim 7417, 8 January 2017) extended a collective agreement “concerning an amendment of the limitation period, which will be according to law and not two years”, and under it section 7(a) of the basic extension order of 1998 was deleted. That is, the limitation period set by law applies to employees covered by the order. The order does not apply, among others, to employees whose wages are paid under collective agreements in the public service.

What postpones or suspends the limitation period

• Facts that were not known. When the facts that make up the cause of action were hidden from the plaintiff for reasons beyond their control, which they could not have prevented even with reasonable care, the period starts on the day they became known to them (section 8 of the Prescription Law).
• Improper conduct by the defendant. The limitation period is suspended as long as the plaintiff refrains from filing a claim because the defendant, or someone on their behalf, knowingly misleads them, uses force against them, threatens them or takes advantage of their distress; misleading also includes knowingly not disclosing one of the facts that make up the cause of action (section 7).
• A written admission. When the defendant admitted in writing, or before a court, that the right exists, the period starts from the day of the admission. Performing part of the right counts as an admission. An admission accompanied by an argument that the claim is time-barred does not count as an admission for this purpose (section 9).
• Young employees. The time during which the plaintiff was not yet 18 years old is not counted (section 10), and after the delay has ended, the period will not end before a year has passed (section 16).
• A claim that was dismissed. If a claim was filed and dismissed in a way that does not prevent filing a new claim on the same cause of action, the time between filing and dismissal is not counted (section 15).

The Prescription Law does not list negotiations or a demand letter among the situations that postpone the limitation period, unless they contain a written admission by the employer as described in section 9. What prevents limitation is filing the claim within the period (section 5).

What to do now

• For each unpaid item, write down the month or date on which it should have been paid.
• Mark the items with a short period: late-wage compensation, annual leave, and claims under the Protection of Employees (Whistleblowers) Law.
• Keep payslips, attendance records, the employment agreement and the correspondence with the employer.
• Do not wait for the end of the period: preparing a claim takes time.

On the way to claim unpaid wages, pension and overtime, see the page Wage claim against an employer.

Frequently asked questions

How long do you have to sue for unpaid wages?

As a rule, within seven years from the day the cause of action arose (sections 5(1) and 6 of the Prescription Law). A monthly wage is due at the end of the month (section 9 of the Wage Protection Law). Late-wage compensation on the wage becomes time-barred much sooner (section 17A of the Wage Protection Law).

How long do you have to sue for payment for unused leave (vacation redemption)?

The limitation period for any claim under the Annual Leave Law is three years (section 31 of the Law). Payment for unused leave (vacation redemption) is owed to an employee who stopped working before receiving the leave owed to them (section 13).

I received my salary late. Until when can I sue for late-wage compensation?

The right to late-wage compensation becomes time-barred within one year from the day the wage is deemed late, or within 60 days from the day you received the wage, whichever is earlier. The Regional Labor Court may extend the 60 days to 90 (section 17A(a) of the Wage Protection Law).

Do negotiations with the employer stop the limitation period?

The Prescription Law does not list negotiations among the situations that postpone the limitation period. But if the employer admitted the right in writing, or performed part of it, the period starts from the day of the admission (section 9). If you refrained from suing because the employer knowingly misled you, threatened you or took advantage of your distress, the limitation period is suspended (section 7).

Does a claim for discrimination at work become time-barred after three years?

Under the current text of the Employment (Equal Opportunities) Law, a civil claim over a breach of the Law can be filed within five years from the day the cause of action arose, and a claim by a job applicant within three years (section 14, as amended by Amendment No. 27 of 2024).