A densely populated, and relatively small, country on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, Israel is the only country in the world whose population is majority Jewish. It is a liberal democracy with a parliamentary system, that has unfortunately been locked in conflict with the Palestinians and its Arab neighbors over ownership of land considered holy by many Jews, Christians, and Muslims since Israel was created in 1948.
Israel is located in the Levant area of the Fertile Crescent region with a varied climate. The coastal areas, including its capital of Tel Aviv, have typically Mediterranean climates with cool winters and hot summers, while the areas around Negev are deserts with hot, dry climates.
The population of Israel is a little less than 10 million, where about three-quarters of the people classify themselves as Jewish, about 20% as Arabs, and the remainder as non-Arab Christians. Hebrew is currently Israel’s only official language, although Arabic used to also be considered official and is spoken widely amongst the Arab population.
Israel's labor law defines a permanent employee as an employee who receives a salary and works a permanent job, the duration of which is not limited at the outset of the employment relationship. Employment contracts are considered indefinite-term, unless their terms explicitly state a fixed duration. They can be hired with a probationary period of up to 12 months. Permanent employment can be terminated by either party by giving an advance notice to the other party. Permanent employees receive social security benefits, unemployment insurance, annual leave, sick leave, maternity leave, and paternity leave benefits.
According to Israel's labor law, while it is not necessary to provide a written employment contract, an employer is obligated to provide a form listing the terms of employment to employees within 30 days of the employment start date (7 days if the employee is a teenager). The terms of employment should contain the following information about the working conditions:
Employer and employee identification
Date of commencement of work and the period of employment, if it is a fixed-term contract
Description of main duties and responsibilities
Designation of the employee and name of the direct supervisor
Amount of wages agreed upon and the due date of payment
Length of regular working day and duration of breaks
Weekly rest day
Payments made by an employer for social contributions
Severance pay
Notice period
As a general rule, employers are prohibited from limiting an employee's right to work for another employer after the end of their employment. However, the labor courts can approve a non-compete clause in an agreement in a certain field and for a certain period under certain circumstances, such as protection of trade secrets, provision of special consideration, investment in special training, etc.
In Israel, temporary employees are defined as persons who are employed to do a job for up to 12 months. If the employee continues working after the expiration of the temporary work contract, the employee becomes permanent.
Employers can utilize the services of licensed employment agencies or contractors to hire temporary employees. An employee of the human resource contractor can be employed with the user organization for 9 months and extended for a maximum of 15 months. Such employees are entitled to the same working conditions as the employees of the user organization. Temporary employees cannot be hired to replace striking employees.
Temporary employees must have a written agreement with the employment agency. Any provision in the contract that prohibits the employee from taking up employment at the user employer is null and void.
Per Israel's labor law, a permanent employee's initial 12 months of service are considered a probationary period. If employees do not perform satisfactorily, they can be dismissed with the following notice periods during their probationary period:
From 1 month to 3 months of work – 3 days
3 months to 6 months of work – 1 week
6 months to 12 months of work – 2 weeks
Per Israel's Working Hours and Rest Act, a standard workweek is 42 hours. However, the normal workweek regulations do not apply to the following employees:
Police officers of the Israel Police, as well as anyone in the prison service
Civil servants whose job requires their availability to work even outside regular working hours
Seafarers and fishermen
Aircrew members
Employees in management roles or positions that require a special degree of personal trust.
A working day shall not exceed 8 hours (for those with a 6-day workweek), and night work is limited to 7 hours. Hours worked in excess of these limits are considered overtime. The maximum number of hours worked in a day cannot exceed 12 hours, including overtime. The law entitles employees to a weekly rest period of at least 36 continuous hours, including the Sabbath Day for Jewish employees.
The working hours for employees under 18 years of age are 40 hours per week and not more than 8 hours per day. Such employees cannot work on their weekly rest days. Finally, persons under 18 years of age are entitled to a break of at least 14 hours between 2 consecutive working days.
Employees are entitled to fully paid annual leave every calendar year (January to December). The entitlement, expressed in calendar days including weekly rest days (on a 6-day-week basis), is as follows:
Up to the first 5 years of employment – 16 days
For the 6th year – 18 days
For the 7th year – 21 days
For the 8th year and onwards – an additional day for each working year, up to a maximum of 28 days (reached in the 14th year)
For employees on a 5-day work week, the net number of working days off is lower (for example, 12 working days for the first 5 years). Young workers (under 18) are entitled to 18 days of annual leave regardless of seniority.
During annual leave, only 1 weekly rest day is included for every 7 days of vacation.
Annual leave must be taken continuously. It may be divided with the agreement of both the employee and the employer (and, where one exists, the approval of the workers' committee), provided that at least 1 of the leave periods is 7 days long. With the employer's consent, the employee must take at least 7 days of leave in the year and may carry the remaining balance forward to the following 2 work years. Annual leave cannot be replaced by monetary compensation during employment.
Effective January 1, 2026, as a temporary measure, an employee who was unable to use annual leave during the order period due to reserve service or other qualifying circumstances may add it to leave granted in the following 2 work years, without the employer's consent.
Annual leave allowance is equal to the regular salary and is paid in advance by the employer. Unused leave accrues, subject to the carryover limits above, and is redeemable on termination.
Employees are entitled to 1.5 days of sick leave per month worked (about 18 days per year for a full-time employee). Employees can accrue unused sick leave year on year up to a maximum accumulated balance of 90 days. Employees cannot be dismissed during sick leave, subject to limited statutory exceptions (such as the permanent closure of the business or the expiry of a fixed-term contract). The employee must generally present a doctor's authorization to receive compensation.
Employers are not required to compensate the employee for the first day of sick leave. Compensation for the second and third days is required and must be paid at a rate of 50% of the employee's salary. The following days must be paid at a rate of 100% of the employee's salary. Individual employment contracts or collective agreements with the employer may provide for better conditions regarding sick leave. Ordinary (non-work-related) sick pay is solely the employer's obligation; the National Insurance Institute does not pay compensation once accumulated sick leave is exhausted. An employee whose earning capacity is reduced over the long term may separately apply to the National Insurance Institute for a general disability pension, which is a distinct scheme with its own eligibility conditions.
Parents are entitled to use up to eight sick days per year to care for a sick child under the age of 16 on the condition that their spouse is employed and does not take sick leave for the same purpose. A single parent, or a parent with sole custody of a child under the age of 16, may take up to 16 sick days a year to care for a sick child.
Israeli labor law grants all female employees maternity leave. Employees with at least 12 months of service are entitled to the full 26-week leave period. Employees with less than 12 months are entitled to 15 weeks. In case of complications during birth or pregnancy, multiple births, or complex disability, maternity leave can be extended.
The National Social Security Institute of Israel provides maternity insurance to female employees who are employed or self-employed in Israel. Employees who have paid insurance contributions for either 10 of the 14 months or 15 of the 22 months preceding the cessation of work are eligible for maternity allowance for 15 weeks (full). Employees who have paid insurance contributions for 6 of the 14 months preceding the cessation of work are entitled to an 8-week allowance (partial). The maternity allowance is determined according to the mother's income (based on which the mother has paid insurance contributions) and has a ceiling of ILS 1,752.33 (Israeli shekels) per day.
The daily allowance to which the mother is entitled is the higher of the following amount:
The mother's income in the 3 full months preceding cessation of work, divided by 90
The mother's income in the 6 full months preceding cessation of work, divided by 180.
The Women's Labor Law of Israel allows a daily 1-hour paid break for breastfeeding employees for 4 months beginning from the end of maternity leave.
In Israel, a father who meets the eligibility conditions may either replace his spouse for part of the birth and parenthood leave or take up to 7 days of paternity leave at the same time as his spouse, using days from her leave entitlement. In total, the combined birth and parenthood leave taken by both spouses cannot exceed 15 weeks. Employees are entitled to paternity allowance as long as they fulfill certain conditions.
Paternity allowance is paid in a single installment, either individually or to a joint bank account shared with the employee's spouse. The allowance rate is calculated according to income (conditional on the employee's payment of insurance contributions). The maximum paternity allowance amount for 2026 is ILS 1,752.33 (Israeli shekels) per day. Fathers are paid the paternity benefit at the expense of their spouse's eligibility days.
Israeli law requires employers to provide advance notice of dismissal to employees. The notice must be in writing and indicate the date of entry into the workforce.
Wage workers are entitled to the following notice periods:
During the 1st year of service – 1 day for each month of work
During the 2nd year of service – 14 days, plus 1 day for every 2 months of work in the 2nd year
During the 3rd year of service – 21 days, plus 1 day for every 2 months of work in the 3rd year
After 3 years of service – 1 month.
Salaried workers are entitled to the following notice periods:
During the 1st 6 months of service – 1 day per month of service
During months 7 through 12 – 6 days plus 2.5 days per month of service beyond 6 months
After 1 year – 1 month.
Employees on probation are also entitled to notice ranging from 3 days to 2 weeks. The notice period can be waived, in part or entirely, by paying compensation to the employee in place of notice. If employers fail to give advance notice to a dismissed employee, they will be liable to pay compensation equal to the regular salary of the employee for the duration of the notice period.
Effective April 29, 2026, employers may not dismiss or place on unpaid leave an employee who has completed at least 60 cumulative days of reserve duty in a calendar year (including 7 consecutive days) during an additional 30-day protected period following the existing statutory 30-day protection, unless a supervisory committee approves the action for special reasons.
According to Israel's labor law, the following employees are entitled to receive severance pay:
Employees dismissed after working continuously for 1 year (entitled to severance pay equal to 1 month's pay for each year of service)
Seasonal employees who have been dismissed after working for 2 seasons in 2 consecutive years
Employees who have been dismissed due to bankruptcy or the death of their employer
The ceiling for unpaid wages and severance in cases of employer insolvency or liquidation is ILS 134,966 (New Israeli Shekels). Statutory severance pay of 1 month's salary per year of service has no statutory maximum.
If an employee resigns due to poor health, the resignation is considered a dismissal, and the employee becomes eligible to receive severance pay. In the case of an employee's death, their dependents (spouse and children) become eligible to receive severance pay as if the employee were dismissed.
The following employees are also considered to have been "dismissed," and therefore, are also eligible for severance pay equaling 1 month's pay for each year of service if they have been working continuously for 1 year:
Female employees who resign within 9 months of delivery to care for their children
Employees who leave employment within 9 months of the adoption of a child under 13 years of age
Employees who resign within 9 months of receiving a foster child under 10 years of age
Employees on a fixed-term contract whose contract the employer does not renew
Employees who resign to take up national, civil, or military service or serve in the Israel Police or the Israel Prison Service
Female employees who resign to stay at a shelter for battered women that is approved by welfare services.
