Employment law in Israel: the complete guide for employees and employers

The first practical step is to check your rights against the payslip and the agreement. In a dispute that is not resolved: representation in the Labor Court.

What the law provides

The legal framework in this area rests on the following laws. The links lead to the original legislation (in Hebrew); the binding text is the one published in Sefer HaHukim (the official gazette of statutes).

• Wage Protection Law, 5718-1958
• Severance Pay Law, 5723-1963
• Hours of Work and Rest Law, 5711-1951
• Annual Leave Law, 5711-1951
• Advance Notice of Dismissal and Resignation Law, 5761-2001
• Minimum Wage Law, 5747-1987
• Employment (Equal Opportunities) Law, 5748-1988 (חוק שוויון ההזדמנויות בעבודה, התשמ״ח-1988)
• Notice to Employee and Job Candidate (Terms of Employment and Screening and Hiring Procedures) Law, 5762-2002
• Collective Agreements Law, 5717-1957
• Extension Order for Comprehensive Pension Insurance in the Economy (Consolidated Version): Ministry of Labor (PDF, in Hebrew)

Legislation index: all the sections the site discusses →

The index of sections on the site: Severance Pay Law, 5723-1963 · Women’s Employment Law, 5714-1954 (חוק עבודת נשים, התשי״ד-1954) · Labor Court Law, 5729-1969.

Wages: what you are entitled to and how it is enforced

Section 12 of the Minimum Wage Law, 5747-1987 provides that the right to the minimum wage “cannot be made conditional or waived”: an agreement that pays less is void, even with the employee’s consent. The Wage Protection Law, 5718-1958 adds: section 5 prohibits combining the regular wage and overtime pay into a single “global wage”; section 17 gives a person whose wages were paid late special compensation, the higher of 5% for the first week after the payment date and 10% for each week or part of a week after it, or linkage differentials and 20% for each month; and section 26B shifts to an employer that did not keep attendance records the burden of proof on overtime, up to a cap of 15 hours a week.

Dismissal: advance notice and severance pay

The Advance Notice of Dismissal and Resignation Law, 5761-2001 (חוק הודעה מוקדמת לפיטורים ולהתפטרות, התשס״א-2001) sets a notice period that grows with seniority: for a monthly-salaried employee, from the second year onward, one full month (section 3). The Severance Pay Law, 5723-1963 (חוק פיצויי פיטורים, התשכ״ג-1963) entitles an employee who worked at least one year and was dismissed to one monthly wage for each year of employment (section 12); ongoing contributions for severance pay under section 14 replace severance pay only to the extent set: under the Extension Order for Comprehensive Pension Insurance, a contribution of 6% replaces 72% of it, and the employer must pay the balance, unless it contributed 8.33% and it was set that the contribution replaces the full severance pay.

A numerical example

An employee who worked 6 years at NIS 12,000 a month, for whom the employer contributed 18.5% to pension insurance (6% employee benefits contributions, 6.5% employer benefits contributions, 6% severance pay), is entitled on dismissal to one month’s advance notice. The severance component (6%) replaces only 72% of the severance pay, so the employer must pay the remaining 28%, NIS 20,160 out of NIS 72,000 (at a fixed wage), unless it contributed 8.33% and it was set that the contribution replaces the full severance pay.

For practical guides, see Minimum wage in Israel: updates, calculation and rights, Calculating severance pay: a calculator, the determining wage and Section 14 and Late salary in Israel: when and how to sue the employer, as well as the index of sections of the Minimum Wage Law, the index of sections of the Wage Protection Law and the index of sections of the Advance Notice Law.

Topic map

Employment law is the branch of law that governs the relationship between employee and employer: from the employment contract, through wages and terms of employment, to the end of the relationship by dismissal or resignation. Its sources are protective laws that cannot be waived, collective agreements and extension orders, and the case law of the labor courts. An employment lawyer is usually needed before signing a contract, when what you are owed is not paid, when a hearing or dismissal process begins, and when you file a claim with the Labor Court.

Hiring and the employment contract

The employer must give the employee a written notice of the terms of employment, and checking the contract before signing saves disputes later. In the articles: what an employment contract must include, checking a contract before signing, background checks on candidates, the probation period, rights in the first year, a list of the employer’s duties and the tests for an employer-employee relationship, for classifying an employee as against an independent contractor.

Wages, working hours and social benefits

Minimum wage, overtime pay, annual leave, sick leave and maternity leave are set by law, and the duty to make pension contributions by an extension order; these rights do not depend on the employee’s consent. See: minimum wage, overtime, late payment of wages, the payslip, pension contributions, annual leave and sick leave, maternity leave, tips, employee benefits, remote work and transferring an employee.

Dismissal, pre-dismissal hearings and severance pay

A lawful dismissal requires a fair hearing, advance notice and severance pay; a dismissal during pregnancy, because of illness or without a hearing may be considered an unlawful dismissal. In the articles: a proper dismissal procedure, the dismissal letter, rights on dismissal, calculating severance pay and unlawful dismissal. The Regional Labor Court has exclusive jurisdiction over these claims: see the guide to the proceedings in the Labor Court.

Equality, privacy and confidentiality in the workplace

The law prohibits discrimination in hiring and in the terms of employment, and places duties on the employer to prevent sexual harassment and regarding the employment of people with disabilities and foreign workers; collecting information about employees is subject to the Protection of Privacy Law, 5741-1981. See: discrimination at work, sexual harassment, employing people with disabilities, foreign workers, security cameras, employee privacy, databases and privacy, employee confidentiality, non-competition and business email fraud.

Guides in this area (74)

All the indexed guides on the site in this area. Each guide states the legislation it relies on.

• What an employment contract must contain, and what is void
• Overtime: how 125% and 150% are calculated, with a calculator
• Minimum wage 2026: how much, for whom and how to claim
• Pre-dismissal hearing in Israel: what must happen, and what to do if there was no hearing
• Calculating severance pay: calculator, determining wage and Section 14
• Late salary in Israel: when and how to sue the employer
• The Labor Court: the stages and deadlines of the proceeding
• Mediation in employment disputes: resolving a dispute without a judgment
• I was fired: what am I owed? The final settlement and a checklist
• A dismissal letter: what it must include
• Protection of whistleblowers: legal framework and employee rights
• Employer obligations in Israel: a checklist under the law
• Background checks on employees: what is allowed
• An independent contractor agreement: what prevents reclassification
• Maternity leave: how many weeks, and protection from dismissal
• New employee rights in Israel: what you get from day one
• Retirement age: rights, duties and adjustments
• Pension contributions: from which day, how much, and how to check
• Transferring an employee: when it is allowed and when it is a worsening of conditions
• Maternity allowance: eligibility, calculation and claiming it
• Reviewing an employment contract: what to look out for
• Employee benefits: legal duties and taxation
• Mass layoffs: employer duties and the process
• Foreign workers’ rights in Israel: a full guide
• Employing foreign workers: the permit, the employer’s duties and the sanctions
• Non-compete agreements: when the court will enforce them
• Recuperation pay 2026: how many days, how much money and when it is paid
• Sexual harassment at work: the employer’s duties and the employee’s rights
• Annual leave in Israel by law: a table by seniority, accrual and payout at the end of employment
• Mourning leave: how many days an employee is entitled to, and what happens if the employer refuses
• Employee confidentiality: duties before, during and after employment
• Shift work: legal arrangements and rights
• Remote work: legal aspects and employment law
• Probationary period: what employers must know — and usually do not
• Discrimination at work in Israel: what is prohibited and how to sue
• Tips are wages: this money belongs to you
• Exemption from overtime: positions of trust and management roles
• Employing a person with a disability: reasonable accommodations, the ban on discrimination and the employer’s duties
• Bullying at work: the employee’s rights and legal protections
• The payslip: what must appear on it and how to read it
• Setting up a workers’ committee: the right to organize — and how to exercise it
• Collective agreement: who it applies to, what it requires, and what cannot be waived
• The gig economy: worker status and employment law
• Parenthood hour (breastfeeding hour): the rights at the workplace
• Vaccinations and work: what the employer may demand, and what it may not do
• Safety at work: the employer’s duties under the law
• Temperature at the workplace: what the law requires
• Shabbat, holidays and religious dress at work: what the employer may and may not require
• Sick days because of depression, anxiety or a mental health crisis: your rights at work
• Holiday pay: who is entitled, how much, and what to do when it is not paid
• Reimbursement of travel expenses to work: how much, for whom, and what to do when it isn’t paid
• Reservists’ rights at work: protection from dismissal, wages, pension, and what to do when they are breached
• Employing young people: minimum age, working hours, pay — and what is prohibited
• Manpower contractor and service contractor workers: the 9-month rule, equal conditions and who is responsible
• A loan to an employee: what the employer may deduct from wages and from severance pay, and when it is prohibited
• Non-solicitation of employees and customers: what it prohibits, when it is valid, and what to do when threatened with a claim
• Business email compromise fraud: the legal response
• Security cameras: privacy duties and legality
• Monitoring employees: the limits of the law
• Advance notice for dismissal and resignation: table and calculator
• Sabbatical year: rights and duties
• Amendment No. 13 to the Protection of Privacy Law: what a business must do now
• Working on Knesset election day: a day of rest, wages and who works on it
• Golden parachute: an executive’s exit terms under Israeli law
• Resignation deemed dismissal: when you get severance pay even though you resigned
• Limitation period for wage and employment claims: what becomes time-barred and when
• Which Labor Court do you file in? By the place of work, and sometimes by the place of residence
• Form 106: what it is, when the employer must give it, and what to check
• Severance pay not paid or not released from the fund: what to do
• Dismissal without a pre-dismissal hearing: how much compensation the labor courts award
• Employer-employee relationship: how the Labor Court decides whether you are an employee or an independent contractor
• Notice to employee about terms of employment: what it must include, and when it must be given
• Section 14 of the Severance Pay Law: what you get when employment ends and when the employer must top up
• Severance pay for hourly and part-time workers: how the determining wage is calculated

FAQ

Can an employer pay me less than the minimum wage if I agree to it?
No. Section 12 of the Minimum Wage Law provides that the right to the minimum wage “cannot be made conditional or waived”. Such an agreement is void, even if the employee signed it and asked for it voluntarily. An employee who was actually paid less is entitled to the differences.

My employer paid my salary late. How much compensation am I entitled to?
Under section 17 of the Wage Protection Law, a delayed wage is increased by the higher of: 5% of it for the first week and 10% for each additional week or part of a week, or linkage differentials plus 20% for each month. The right to this compensation becomes time-barred if no claim was filed with the Regional Labor Court within one year from the day the wage is considered delayed, or within 60 days from the day the delayed wage was received, whichever is earlier; the court may extend the 60 days up to 90 days (section 17A(a)). If the employer delayed the wages three times within 12 consecutive months, the limitation period may be longer (section 17A(b)).

How much advance notice am I entitled to if I was dismissed after two years at work?
A monthly-salaried employee is entitled, from the second year onward, to one full month (section 3 of the Advance Notice Law). The notice is given in writing, and the employer may waive your work during the notice period, provided it pays your regular wage for that period (sections 2(c) and 6).

If my employer paid my pension contributions regularly, am I still entitled to severance pay separately?
It depends on the deposit rate. Under section 14 of the Severance Pay Law, a deposit to a fund replaces severance pay only to the extent set in a collective agreement or in an approval of the Minister of Labor. Under the Extension Order for Comprehensive Pension Insurance, a deposit of 6% for severance pay replaces only 72% of it, and the employer must pay the balance; only a deposit of 8.33%, where it was set that it replaces the full severance pay, releases the employer from any further payment for the wage and the period for which it was deposited.

Must an employer hold a pre-dismissal hearing?
Yes. The duty to hold a hearing is rooted in the case law of the labor courts (for example, Labor Appeal (ע״ע) 1027/01 Gutterman v. Emek Yezreel Academic College), and it also applies to a private employer: the employee is entitled to receive the allegations against them in advance and a real opportunity to respond before the decision. A dismissal without a hearing, or with a hearing for appearance’s sake only, may give a right to compensation beyond severance pay. More on this: a proper dismissal procedure.

How much severance pay is a dismissed employee entitled to?
Under the Severance Pay Law, an employee who was dismissed after at least one year of employment with the same employer is entitled to one monthly wage for each year of employment, and a proportional part for part of a year. When the employer made pension contributions under the Section 14 track, the money accumulated in the fund replaces severance pay, all of it or part of it. The full calculation: calculating severance pay.

Can an employee waive protective rights in the employment contract?
No. Rights set by the protective laws (minimum wage, overtime, leave, sick leave, severance pay and advance notice) cannot be waived, and a clause in the contract that waives them is not valid. An employment contract can only add to what the law sets. See: what an employment contract must include.

For collected answers in all practice areas, see the FAQ page, and for the map of services — all practice areas.

All the questions on the site about employment law, grouped by page, with each question linking to its answer.

For short definitions with the section of the law, for example determining wage, Section 14 and resignation deemed dismissal, see the glossary of legal terms.

Calculators and self-checks in employment law: severance pay, advance notice, late payment of wages and payslip; all the tools are on the calculators and tools page.

The content of this page is general information, is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Translated: 12 November 2026 · Hebrew version updated: 13 October 2026.