Wage Protection Law in Israel5718-1958 · the statute text with a plain-English explanation, section by section

The Wage Protection Law, like every statute, opens with a set of definitions. In this Law:

"wage" (work wage) · including payments for holidays, work productivity and overtime, and other payments due to the employee by reason of, and in the course of, their employment;

"delayed wage" · work wage that has not been paid by the determining day;

"the determining day" · the ninth day following the date for payment of the work wage or the pension under sections 9, 10, 11, 13, 14 and 16(b), as the case may be (and, for a person in service work under Chapter F, Sub-chapter B1 of the Penal Law, 5737-1977 · the twenty-first day following that date);

"index differentials", in respect of a given period · differentials linked to the Consumer Price Index published by the Central Bureau of Statistics, according to the rate of increase of the index from the index last published before the start of the period to the index last published before the end of the period.

Work wage paid on the basis of a month shall be paid at the end of the month for which it is payable. In the case of work wage paid on the basis of a period longer than a month, the proportionate part for each month shall be treated as if it were paid on the basis of a month.

Work wage paid on the basis of an hour, a day, a week or by quantity of output shall be paid, unless another date has been fixed by a collective agreement or a contract of employment, at the end of the first half of the month in which the employee was employed; however, in respect of an employee whose wage is paid on such a basis but who was employed throughout that month, section 9 shall apply if, during the month, advances were paid to them in accordance with a collective agreement or a contract of employment.

Work wage paid for the performance of specific work, the performance of which extends over more than fourteen days, shall be paid on the day the work is completed, if advances were paid during the performance of the work in accordance with a collective agreement or a contract of employment. If no such advances were paid, the wage shall be treated as if it were paid by quantity of output.

(a) To the delayed wage shall be added the higher of the following (hereinafter · compensation for delayed wage):

(1) for the first week following the date for payment of the work wage · one twentieth of the delayed wage, and for each week or part of a week thereafter · one tenth of the delayed wage;

(2) index differentials for the period from the date for payment of the work wage until the day of its payment, plus 20% of the total amount of the delayed wage and the said index differentials for each month within that period; for part of a month the said 20% addition shall be paid proportionately.

(b) Compensation for delayed wage shall, for all purposes except this section, be part of the work wage.

(a) The right to compensation for delayed wage, as distinct from the wage itself, shall be time-barred if a claim is not filed with a regional labor court within one year from the day on which the wage is treated as delayed, or within 60 days from the day the employee received the wage to which the compensation relates, whichever is earlier; however, the regional labor court may extend the 60-day period to 90 days.

(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), if the employer delayed the employee's wage, in whole or in part, three times within a period of twelve consecutive months falling within the three consecutive years following the day of payment of the wage to which the compensation relates, the period of prescription shall be those three years.

The regional labor court may reduce or cancel compensation for delayed wage if it is satisfied that the wage was not paid on time due to a bona fide mistake, or due to a circumstance over which the employer had no control, or as a result of a genuine dispute about the very existence of the debt · provided that the amount not in dispute was paid on time.

(a) An employer must keep a wage register and deliver to each employee, in writing, a payslip; in this Law ·

"wage register" · a register of the work wage due to employees and of the particulars of the wage paid to them;

"payslip" · a record of data from the wage register, detailing the particulars of the wage paid to the employee.

(b) The wage particulars in the wage register and in the payslip shall include the particulars listed in the Schedule.

(c) The entry in the wage register and the delivery of the payslip to the employee shall be made no later than the determining day.

(d) The provisions of this section shall not apply to an individual in respect of an employee whom they employ otherwise than in the course of their business or occupation, unless the Minister has provided otherwise for classes of employers or employees.

(a) No amounts shall be deducted from work wage except the following:

(1) an amount that must be deducted, or may be deducted, under an enactment;

(2) donations that the employee has consented in writing to have deducted;

(3) membership dues in an employees' organization of which the employee is a member, which are to be deducted under a collective agreement or a contract of employment or which the employee has consented in writing to have deducted, and the regular payments to the works committee;

(4) an amount imposed as a disciplinary fine under a collective agreement or under an enactment;

(5) current payments to provident funds, provided that payments to a provident fund which the employee alone is liable to pay shall not be deducted from their wage if they notified the employer in writing of their objection to paying them;

(6) a debt under a written undertaking from the employee to the employer, provided that no more than one quarter of the work wage shall be deducted on account of such a debt;

(7) advances on account of work wage, if the advances do not exceed the wage for three months; where the advances exceed the wage for three months, paragraph (6) applies to the balance.

(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), where an employee has ceased to work for the employer, the employer may deduct from the employee's final wage any balance of a debt the employee owes them, including advances.

(a) An employer who does any of the following is liable to half the fine prescribed in section 61(a)(2) of the Penal Law, 5737-1977 ·

(1) fails to deliver to their employee a payslip by the date stated in section 24(c), contrary to section 24(a); an offence under this paragraph is one of strict liability;

(2) delivers to their employee a payslip that does not include the particulars of the wage paid to the employee, in whole or in part, contrary to section 24(b).

(b) An employer who deducted amounts from an employee's wage contrary to section 25 is liable to half the fine prescribed in section 61(a)(3) of the Penal Law.