What you need to know about paid vacations in Israel

Paid vacations in Israel

• Employees are entitled to paid vacations in Israel (דמי חופשה), which are calculated on the basis of their normal salary.
• Vacation pay is paid at the end of the month, at the same time as the regular salary.
• Employees going on paid vacation for a period of more than 7 days may request an advance on the amount before leaving on vacation.

Process for obtaining paid leave

• The right to paid leave is automatic, and is given to every employee in Israel.
• Entitlement to paid leave is conditional on the employee not going to work elsewhere during the same period.

If the employee has worked elsewhere during his leave, his employer may not pay him for his days off. The employer may even deduct them from the employee's next salary if an advance has been given.

Time of payment

• Vacations must be paid on the day on which the normal salary would have been paid. (i.e. by the 10th of the following month).
• If the employee has requested to receive an advance on the amount of vacation days, as explained above (vacation period exceeding 7 days), the amount must be paid no more than 2 days before the vacation period.

Vacation pay in Israel

The amount of paid vacation is different for the 2 categories of employees, as we will detail below:

• Monthly-paid employees
  • Monthly employees will receive their normal salary during the paid vacation period.
• Employees paid by the hour or by the day
  • For each day of leave, they will receive an amount equivalent to the average daily wage earned over the last three full months prior to the leave period (i.e. the total of the last 3 wages divided by 90).
  • If the employee did not work full time during the last 3 months prior to the leave period, the period of 3 months of full time work must be taken from the last 12 months prior to the leave. (The employee can choose which months to base the calculation on).
• Employees paid by the hour or by the day who have worked less than 75 consecutive days.
  • Whether the period is one year or 2 years, if the employee does not have a contract stipulating that he can work more than 75 days for his employer, he will not be entitled to paid leave.
  • However, such an employee will still be entitled to vacation pay equal to 4% of the salary received during this period.

Good to know

• During the paid leave period, the employee is not entitled to reimbursement of travel expenses in the same way as an employee who has worked.
• Paid leave is subject to social security contributions (bitouah léoumi) as well as the mas Ahnassa. So don't be surprised if you find that you've paid the same taxes while on vacation.

Read also: If you are a salaried employee, here's how much Bitouah Léoumi you have to pay.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]