Convalescence Pay (Dmei Havra'a)

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. 1

   In brief

   Dmei Havra'a (convalescence pay) is an annual employee benefit — a fixed payment per day, multiplied by the number of eligible days set by your seniority (vetek) at the workplace.

   Key rules at a glance:

   • Employees are entitled only after completing 1 full year (12 months) at the same employer.
   • Once you complete 1 year, payment is retroactive from your first day of employment.
   • Dmei Havra'a is not conditional on you actually going on holiday — it's a payment right regardless of what you do with the money.
   • Calculated based on seniority, work scope, and length of employment during the year.
   • Private sector rate (2026): ₪418 per day (agreed to rise to ₪451.5 pending extension order).
   • Public sector rate (2026): ₪511.6 per day.
   • Certain sectors (security, cleaning, contract workers, events, hospitality, construction, state employees) receive higher rates via collective agreement — see below.

   For the government reference guide, see the Ministry of Labor's convalescence pay page.

2. 2

   Who is eligible?

   Eligible employees include:

   • Salaried employees who have completed at least 1 year of employment with the same employer.
   • Part-time employees (pro-rated based on their scope).
   • Employees who worked only some of the days during the year but had a continuous employer-employee relationship for at least 1 year.
   • Employees who received or gave termination notice before completing 1 year but whose employment actually ended after 1 year (i.e. the notice period pushed the end date past the anniversary).
   • Employees who were illegally terminated or terminated in bad faith shortly before completing 1 year — Labor Court rulings have granted these employees compensation equivalent to Dmei Havra'a even without formally completing the year.
   • Pensioners receiving a budgetary pension (pensiya taktzivit) — see Dmei Havra'a for budgetary pension recipients.
3. 3

   How many days do you get? (seniority table)

   The number of Dmei Havra'a days depends on your seniority at that workplace. Table below shows the private sector rates — public sector employees receive more days:

   Seniority (years)	Days per year
   Year 1	5 days
   Years 2–3	6 days
   Years 4–10	7 days
   Years 11–15	8 days
   Years 16–19	9 days
   Year 20+	10 days

   Rate per day (2026):

   • Private sector: ₪418 (rising to ₪451.5 pending signed extension order)
   • Public sector: ₪511.6

   Tip: Rates are updated typically in July (private sector) or June (public sector), tied to inflation (CPI). Values shown are current at time of publication.

4. 4

   How Dmei Havra'a is calculated

   Part-time employees:

   Calculated pro-rata based on your work scope and the portion of the year you were employed.

   Example: An employee who worked 1.5 years at 50% scope:

   • Year 1: 5 days × 50% scope = 2.5 days entitlement
   • Half of year 2: 6 days × 50% scope × 0.5 year = 1.5 days entitlement

   Hourly employees with fixed weekly hours (private sector):

   Formula: (weekly hours × days by seniority × daily rate) ÷ 42

   Example: Employee with 10 years' seniority at 18 weekly hours in private sector:

   • 7 days by seniority × ₪418 × 18 hours = ₪52,668
   • ÷ 42 = ₪1,254 annual Dmei Havra'a

   Hourly employees with fixed monthly hours:

   Formula: (monthly hours × days by seniority × daily rate) ÷ 182 (private) or ÷ 173.33 (public)

   Hourly employees with variable hours: Take the 12-month average of monthly hours, then apply the same formula.

   Paid absences (paid vacation days, sick days with sick pay, paid holidays) do count in the hours calculation. For the full rules on hourly workers, see Rights guide for hourly / daily workers.

   Tip: Kav LaOved offers a free calculator for computing your Dmei Havra'a entitlement anonymously.

5. 5

   When and how is Dmei Havra'a paid?

   The employer can pay Dmei Havra'a in one of 3 ways:

   1. Annual lump sum (most common).

   • Typically added to one of the summer months' paychecks (June–September), or another month depending on workplace custom.
   • Budgetary pension recipients receive it with their June pension.
   • New employees who haven't yet completed 1 year at the annual payment month wait until the next year — they'll then get both years together (the completed year + the partial year since).

   2. Monthly payments (allowed with conditions).

   • Must be explicitly stated in the employment contract.
   • Must be shown as a separate line item on the payslip (tlush sachar), distinct from other salary components.
   • The annual entitlement is divided by 12.
   • The employer cannot claim minimum-wage salary already includes Dmei Havra'a — that would be an illegal way of dropping base pay below the legal minimum.

   3. Employer-funded holiday instead of payment.

   Only valid if all three conditions are met:

   • Employer notifies employees in advance that the trip replaces Dmei Havra'a (not for team-building, etc.).
   • Employees agree (explicitly or by attending).
   • Trip cost is at least equal to the Dmei Havra'a owed — if less, employer pays the difference.

   Note: Employer-funded holidays are considered taxable benefits — income tax is deducted from the employee's salary.

6. 6

   Which absences count toward seniority?

   These absences DO accumulate seniority for Dmei Havra'a:

   • Paid annual vacation — see our Annual Vacation Days guide.
   • Paid sick days (yamei machalah for which the employee receives sick pay).
   • Reserve military service (miluim) — entitled to Dmei Havra'a for the reserve period too.
   • Maternity leave / birth and parenting leave (chufshat leidah) — the leave period counts toward Dmei Havra'a and payment is due for it (even if the leave falls on the annual payment month).
   • Pregnancy preservation (shmirat herayon) — case law is mixed; some Labor Court rulings grant Dmei Havra'a for this period, others count it only toward the 1-year eligibility threshold. No binding Supreme Labor Court ruling yet.

   These absences DO NOT accumulate seniority:

   • Unpaid leave (chufsha lelo tashlum / chalat) — no employer-employee relationship during unpaid leave, so the period doesn't count. Employee is not entitled to Dmei Havra'a for the unpaid-leave period.
   • Work accident (ta'unat avoda) absence — per Regional Labor Court ruling, treated like unpaid leave (no salary from employer during this period). No binding Supreme Labor Court ruling yet.

   Special case — employee on unpaid leave during payment month: Employer is not required to pay Dmei Havra'a during the leave. Employee gets it after returning. If employment ends during unpaid leave, employer must pay the outstanding Dmei Havra'a as part of the final settlement (Pidyon Dmei Havra'a).

7. 7

   Redemption of unpaid Dmei Havra'a (Pidyon)

   During ongoing employment — if your employer never paid you Dmei Havra'a (or paid only some years), you can claim redemption for the last 7 years plus the current year, in addition to the current year's entitlement.

   After employment ends — a former employee can claim Pidyon Dmei Havra'a for the 7 years preceding the date of filing the claim.

   For the full rules, see Pidyon Dmei Havra'a.

   See also our related guides: What to pay attention to if you're being dismissed.

8. 8

   Special populations with higher rates

   Certain sectors receive higher Dmei Havra'a via collective agreement (heskem kibutzi). If your workplace has a collective agreement setting higher rates than the general extension order, the higher rate applies.

   • Security and guard workers — higher rates via sector-specific extension order.
   • Cleaning workers — more days and rates calculated at the public-sector daily rate (even for private-sector cleaning employees).
   • Contract workers (staffing companies) — when a contractor changes but the employee stays at the same worksite, seniority is not reset and Dmei Havra'a is calculated on the total workplace seniority.
   • Waiters and event-venue workers — additional days: 7 for years 2–5, 10 from year 6+. Payment can be monthly or annual (August), at employer's discretion.
   • Hotel industry — 5 days year 1 (after 10 months), 7 days years 2–5, 8 days years 6–9, 10 days years 10–12, 12 days year 13+.
   • Metal, electricity, and electronics industry — higher days from year 9+ (8 days years 9–10, 9 days year 11, 10 days year 12+). Applies to workplaces with up to 20 employees.
   • Construction and renovation workers — more days, calculated based on total industry seniority (not per-employer).
9. 9

   What if the employer refuses to pay?

   The employer is legally required to pay Dmei Havra'a. If they don't:

   1. First, notify the employer in writing of your legal entitlement.
   2. If the issue continues, you can file a complaint with the Ministry of Labor's Enforcement Unit.
   3. You may also file a claim with the Labor Court (Beit HaDin LaAvoda) — you can do both simultaneously.

   Contract workers in cleaning, security, and catering sectors: if your contracting company (the cleaning/security/catering firm) failed to pay Dmei Havra'a, you may be able to sue both the contracting company and the workplace where you actually perform the work, under certain conditions.

   You cannot legally waive your Dmei Havra'a entitlement — in whole or in part. If you agreed to waive it (due to misunderstanding or employer pressure), that agreement has no binding force.

10. 10

    Good to know

    • Employees who ended their employment before the annual Dmei Havra'a payment month are entitled to receive their share in their final paycheck.
    • Dmei Havra'a is subject to income tax, National Insurance (Bituach Leumi), and health insurance contributions.
    • Dmei Havra'a is NOT included in the salary base used to calculate pension contributions or severance pay (Pitzuei Piturim).
    • For guidance on how Dmei Havra'a interacts with the end of employment, see our Severance Pay guide and Being Dismissed guide.
11. 11

    Helping organisations

    Government hotlines:

    Organisation	Phone
    Sh'il (Citizens' Advice Service)	118
    Report labour-law violations — Ministry of Labor Enforcement Unit	*2570
    Report workplace discrimination — Equal Employment Opportunities Commission	074-7696565
    Central Government Response Centre	1299