Payslip review: a lawyer and CPA checks wages, pension and hours

The services offered on this site are legal services, provided as a lawyer. Reading charges, wages and reports as an accountant is part of the legal work, and is not a separate accounting (CPA) service.

What does a payslip review check?

A payslip looks like a table of numbers, but every line on it rests on a duty in a law, an extension order (an order that applies a collective agreement to a whole sector or to the whole economy) or a contract. The review goes through the payslips month by month and compares them with the employment contract, the attendance reports and the statements from the pension fund.

• Base wage: does it match the contract or the “notice of employment terms” (הודעה לעובד), and is it at least the current minimum wage (Minimum Wage Law, 5747-1987)?
• Overtime: at least 125% of the hourly wage for the first two overtime hours each day, and at least 150% for every hour after that (section 16 of the Hours of Work and Rest Law, 5711-1951). Overtime pay is calculated from the “regular wage”, which includes the supplements the employer pays (section 18).
• “Inclusive” or “global” wage: when the payslip says the wage “includes overtime”, it is generally treated as a regular wage only, and overtime pay is paid on top of it, unless a collective agreement approved for this purpose says otherwise (section 5 of the Wage Protection Law).
• Pension: under the Extension Order on Increasing Pension Insurance Contributions in the Economy (2016) (צו ההרחבה בדבר הגדלת ההפרשות לביטוח פנסיוני במשק), since the wages for January 2017 the employer contributes at least 6.5% to the benefits (tagmulim) component and 6% to the severance component, and the employee contributes 6%. We also check that what was deducted on the payslip actually reached the fund.
• Annual leave, sick leave and recuperation pay: the balances of vacation and sick days on the payslip; 16 days of annual leave in each of the first five years, with one weekly rest day counted for every seven days of leave (section 3 of the Annual Leave Law, 5711-1951); and recuperation pay (dmei havra'a) under the extension order, after a year of employment.
• Deductions: income tax, National Insurance (Bituach Leumi) and health insurance. Do they match the gross wage, and is there a deduction with no clear basis?
• Payment date: a monthly wage is due at the end of the month. Wages not paid by the ninth day after that are “delayed wages”, and compensation for late payment of wages is added to them (sections 1, 9 and 17 of the Wage Protection Law).

Self-check: the first four lines out of 12

The payslip guide has a 12-line self-check, and each line rests on a section of the law. These are the first four:

1. I received the payslip in writing, no later than the ninth day after the date the wage was due sections 1, 24(a) and 24(c) of the Wage Protection Law
2. My name and ID number; the employer's name, its identification or company number, and the address of the workplace or business item 1 of the Schedule to the Wage Protection Law
3. The date I started work, my seniority, and the scope of my position or the basis on which my wage is paid items 2 and 3 of the Schedule
4. The period the wage was paid for, and the number of working days and working hours: the standard at the workplace, and the ones I actually worked item 4(1)–(4) of the Schedule

The next lines cover the regular wage, additional payments, deductions, contributions and the minimum wage. See the full self-check →

Why does the review combine accounting and law?

A payslip is an accounting document and a legal document at the same time. The accounting side is the calculation: the wage base, the wage components, the contribution rates, the deductions and the balances. The legal side is the question of which of these is binding (under a law, an extension order, a collective agreement or the employment contract), and what can be done when there is a gap.

Yaron Meiri, Adv. & CPA, is a lawyer and CPA: a member of the Israel Bar Association and a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Israel. So the same person does the calculation and the legal analysis. When a gap turns up, it can be quantified, and the next step can be decided on the same call: a written request to the employer, an inquiry with the pension fund, a complaint, or a claim in the Labor Court (Israel's court for employment and social-security disputes).

The payslip is also evidence. If no payslip was given, or it did not include overtime pay, pay for work on the weekly rest day, vacation pay, recuperation pay or travel expenses, the wage paid is presumed to be a regular wage that does not include them, unless the employer proves otherwise (section 26B(c) of the Wage Protection Law).

Yaron Meiri, Adv. & CPA
Lawyer and CPA · member of the Israel Bar Association and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Israel. LL.B · B.A. in Business Administration (Accounting) · Executive MBA. An independent law office in Kiryat Ono. Languages: Hebrew, English.
Represents employees and employers in the Labor Court: wages and late payment of wages, dismissals and pre-dismissal hearings, severance pay, overtime and employment agreements.
You can check: CPA license 500112906, active since 10 January 2013 (CPA register, data.gov.il)
About page → · Decisions and publications →

What should you prepare before a first call?

There is no need to send any document before we speak. Just find what you have and keep it:

• Your payslips, including from earlier years if you have them.
• The employment contract, or the notice of employment terms (the employer's written statement of your terms of employment).
• Attendance reports, or any other record of your working hours: a diary, emails, messages.
• An annual report or a quarterly report from the pension fund or the provident fund.
• Form 106 (טופס 106, the employer's annual statement of wages and tax), if you received one.

Don't have everything? You can start with what you have. On the call we will tell you which documents are really needed, and how to send them through a secure channel.