IsraelLaw
1. What Is Dmei Havraa?
Recreation pay is not in a statute. It comes from a general collective agreement between the Histadrut and the employers' organizations, which the Minister of Labor extended to the whole private sector by an extension order (tzav harchava) under Section 25 of the Collective Agreements Law 5717-1957. Once extended, it binds every private employer and employee in Israel, union member or not. Public-sector employees are paid under their own agreements, at a different rate.
Despite the name, you do not have to take time off or prove you went on vacation. It is a cash payment, calculated as a number of "recreation days" times a fixed day rate, regardless of your actual salary.
Some employers pay recreation pay monthly as part of the salary instead of once a year. That is allowed if it appears as a separate line on the payslip and the yearly total equals the full entitlement. A contract that says recreation pay is "included" in a global salary, without a separate amount, is a common source of disputes. Some industries have their own extension orders with better terms, so check which order applies to your workplace.
2. Who Qualifies
You become entitled once you complete 12 months of work with the same employer. At that point you are paid for the first year as well, and the entitlement continues every year after that.
- Leaving before 12 months: no recreation pay. Courts have applied the one-year threshold strictly, though an employee dismissed without the notice period that would have carried them past the anniversary may still qualify.
- Leaving after the first year: you are owed recreation pay for any year not yet paid, including a proportional amount for the partial final year.
- Resignation: resigning does not cancel recreation pay already earned.
- Part-time: paid in proportion to your job percentage (see section 6).
3. 2026 Rates and Seniority Scale
The private-sector day rate was NIS 418 from 2023 through 2025. On June 22, 2026 the Histadrut and the Presidium of Business Organizations signed a new general collective agreement setting NIS 451.50 per day for the 2026 recreation year, and the extension order applying it to the whole private sector was published on August 18, 2026. The agreement runs until June 30, 2027.
| Year of employment | Recreation days | 2026 full-time (NIS 451.50/day) |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 5 | NIS 2,257.50 |
| Years 2–3 | 6 | NIS 2,709.00 |
| Years 4–10 | 7 | NIS 3,160.50 |
| Years 11–15 | 8 | NIS 3,612.00 |
| Years 16–19 | 9 | NIS 4,063.50 |
| Year 20 onward | 10 | NIS 4,515.00 |
Public sector: civil servants and others paid under public-sector agreements are excluded from the private-sector order. Their day rate, set separately, was frozen at NIS 471.40 in recent years; check your payslip or HR for the 2026 figure.
2025 was different. A temporary 2025 law froze the day rate and required employers to deduct an amount equal to the value of a recreation day and transfer it to the state, to help fund benefits for reservists. Employees of private households, such as caregivers and cleaners, were exempt. The law applied to 2025 only and does not affect 2026.
Many employers paid 2026 recreation pay in June or July at NIS 418, before the new order was published. The Ministry of Labor's position is that what matters is the year the payment is for, not when it was paid, so the difference is owed whether you were paid in a lump sum, in installments or monthly. For a full-time employee in year 4–10 that is 7 × NIS 33.50 = NIS 234.50; at year 20 or more it is NIS 335. Look for a top-up on a later 2026 payslip, and ask in writing if it does not appear.
4. When Employers Must Pay
The extension order does not fix one calendar month. Most employers pay once a year in the summer, others spread it across monthly payslips. Either way, the full annual amount must be paid for each year.
When employment ends, the final settlement must include any recreation pay not yet paid, including a proportional amount for the final partial year: (months worked in that year ÷ 12) × the annual amount for your seniority.
A full-time employee in her fifth year leaves at the end of August 2026 without having received 2026 recreation pay. She is in the 7-day band and worked 8 months of the year: 8/12 × 7 × NIS 451.50 = NIS 2,107 gross, which should appear on her final payslip.
5. Tax and Deductions
Recreation pay is ordinary employment income. Income tax, Bituach Leumi and health tax are deducted from it like any salary. It is not part of the salary base for pension contributions or severance, and it does not count toward the minimum wage.
When the full amount is paid in one month, more tax may be withheld that month than your annual liability justifies. If that leaves you overpaid for the year, you can recover the excess through an annual refund application to the Israel Tax Authority.
6. Part-Time and Hourly Workers
Part-time employees get recreation pay in proportion to their job percentage. For hourly workers whose hours vary, the percentage is normally worked out from the average hours over the year compared with a full-time position.
Example: an employee in year 2 working 60% of a full-time job is owed 6 × NIS 451.50 × 60% = NIS 1,625.40 gross for 2026.
Workers employed through a manpower agency are paid by the agency, which is their legal employer. In some sectors, notably security, cleaning and catering contractors, the client that uses the workers can also be held liable for their wage rights under the Increased Enforcement of Labor Laws Law 5772-2011.
7. Foreign Workers and Expats
The extension order covers every employee of a private employer in Israel. Nationality and visa type are irrelevant, so B-1 workers in construction and agriculture, expert-visa holders and people working in Israel for a foreign company all have the same entitlement.
Live-in caregivers are entitled to recreation pay from the employing family once they complete a year, at the same day rate and seniority scale. Because household employers were exempt from the 2025 deduction, caregivers were owed their full 2025 recreation pay too. Recreation pay is often forgotten when a caregiver's employment ends, especially when the patient dies, so it should be included in the final calculation. See our foreign caregiver guide.
Expats on foreign contracts. A contract governed by foreign law that offers generous vacation or a 13th salary does not cancel recreation pay for work in Israel unless the contract clearly pays an equivalent or better amount under that heading. If your package was designed abroad, ask HR to show where dmei havraa appears on your payslip.
A foreign worker who has left Israel can still claim unpaid recreation pay. An Israeli lawyer can file in the Regional Labor Court for the district where you worked, under a power of attorney signed abroad (usually notarized and apostilled, or signed at an Israeli consulate). Bring payslips, your contract or permit, bank statements showing salary payments, and your dates of employment.
8. When Your Employer Has Not Paid
Calculate first. For each unpaid year, multiply your recreation days by the day rate for that year (NIS 418 for 2023–2025, NIS 451.50 for 2026) and by your job percentage.
Demand in writing. Send the calculation to the employer by email with a short deadline. Many disputes end here.
Ministry of Labor complaint. The Ministry's Regulation and Enforcement Administration can investigate and impose administrative fines. It does not collect the money for you, so it works best alongside a claim or while you are still employed.
Regional Labor Court claim. You can sue for unpaid recreation pay with linkage and interest. The general limitation period under the Limitation Law 5718-1958 is seven years, but do not wait: older years are harder to prove, and the scope of claims for distant years is sometimes litigated. Recreation pay is usually claimed together with other final-settlement items such as unused annual leave and severance pay.