IsraelLawForeign nationals working in Israel are often surprised to discover how detailed and employee-protective Israeli leave law is. Unlike some jurisdictions where paid leave is largely a matter of contract, Israel sets statutory floors that apply universally — and courts regularly award compensation to employees whose leave rights were not honoured.
This guide covers each major type of leave entitlement, how they accumulate, what happens when employment ends, and the specific rules for foreign workers.
1. Overview of the Leave Framework
Israeli paid leave is governed by several separate statutes, each covering a different type of leave:
- Annual Leave Law 1951 — vacation days
- Sick Pay Law 1976 — sick leave entitlement and pay
- Work and Rest Hours Law 1951 — weekly rest and public holidays
- Convalescence Pay Law 1988 (and prior extension orders) — annual recuperation pay
Collective agreements and extension orders may improve on these statutory minimums in particular sectors. The individual employment contract may also be more generous. But no contract can reduce the statutory floor.
2. Annual Paid Vacation
The Annual Leave Law 1951 entitles employees to paid vacation days each year. The entitlement grows with seniority:
- Years 1–4: 12 working days per year
- Year 5: 14 days
- Year 6: 15 days
- Year 7 and beyond: 16 days
- After 10+ years (under most collective agreements): 21 days
"Working days" for annual leave purposes typically means the days on which the employee would normally work. For a 5-day work week, these are Monday through Friday. The law specifically excludes days of rest, public holidays, and sick days from the annual leave count.
Annual leave must actually be taken — Israeli law prohibits simply paying in lieu of leave as a routine practice. The employer has the right to set when leave is taken (with reasonable notice), but must allow the employee to take all their leave entitlement within the year or carry over a capped balance. An employee who is prevented from taking leave due to the employer's needs accumulates a leave balance that must be paid out on termination.
3. Sick Leave
The Sick Pay Law 1976 gives employees the right to accumulate sick days at a rate of 1.5 days per month of employment — 18 days per year — up to a maximum balance of 90 accumulated days. The pay structure during sick leave is:
- First sick day: unpaid
- Second and third sick days: 50% of normal daily wage
- Fourth day onward: 100% of normal daily wage (up to the accumulated balance)
Many employment contracts and collective agreements provide better terms — for example, full pay from day one of illness or a shorter waiting period. Where the contract is more generous, the better terms apply.
Sick leave requires a medical certificate (teudat holeh) from a doctor. The certificate must cover the period of absence. An employer who dismisses an employee who is on sick leave faces additional restrictions — the Employment (Equal Opportunities) Law prohibits dismissal of an employee absent due to illness in certain circumstances.
Unused sick days do not convert to cash on termination — they simply lapse. This is one reason employees sometimes continue working while ill in order to "save" sick days, but Israeli law does not require conversion of sick day balances to cash.
4. Public Holidays
Israeli public holidays are not uniform across all employees. The national public holidays are based on the Jewish calendar (Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Passover, etc.), but non-Jewish employees may observe different holidays relevant to their religion.
Under the Work and Rest Hours Law 1951, Jewish employees are entitled to take Jewish public holidays as paid days off. For non-Jewish employees (including many foreign workers), the law allows them to observe their own religious holidays instead. In practice, many employers grant the standard Israeli public holidays to all employees regardless of religion, which is often specified in the employment contract or collective agreement.
Israel has approximately 9–10 statutory public holidays per year for Jewish employees, including the two days of Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Passover (first and last days), Shavuot, and Independence Day. The exact number varies by year depending on when holidays fall relative to the Shabbat.
Work on a public holiday typically entitles the employee to premium pay of 150% of the normal daily wage, in addition to a compensatory rest day, unless the contract specifically addresses holiday work differently.
5. Convalescence Pay (Dmei Havraah)
One distinctly Israeli entitlement is dmei havraah — convalescence pay. This is an annual payment made to employees after their first year of employment, intended to fund a period of rest and recuperation. The rate and number of days are set annually by the Ministry of Finance and the employer associations.
As of recent years, the convalescence rate is approximately NIS 440–460 per day (check the current figure with the Ministry of Labor or your employer), paid once per year. The number of days depends on seniority:
- Year 1–3: 5 days
- Year 4–10: 6 days
- Years 11 and beyond: 7 days
Convalescence pay is typically paid in June or July each year. It is not leave in the sense that the employee is required to take days off — it is a cash payment on top of salary. Foreign workers who have completed 12 months of employment are entitled to convalescence pay on the same basis as Israeli employees.
6. Leave Accumulation and Payment on Termination
When employment ends — whether by dismissal or resignation — any accumulated, unused annual leave must be paid out to the employee. The payment is calculated at the employee's daily wage rate at the time of termination multiplied by the number of unused leave days.
Sick days, however, do not carry a cash value on termination — unused sick day balances lapse. Convalescence pay for the current year is calculated on a pro-rated basis if the employment ends mid-year before the annual payment date.
Employers sometimes try to reduce termination costs by forcing employees to take annual leave during the notice period. This is permitted in Israeli law — the notice period can be used as the leave period — but only if the employee receives clear written notice that the time is designated as leave, and the leave entitlement is properly credited against the balance owed.