Foreign workers' pay, deductions and deposits: identify the applicable arrangement

The payslip shows one amount, a different sum reaches the account, and someone says the money “is in the pension”. How can a shortfall be identified? Separate four questions: what wages were owed, which deductions were allowed, what the worker received and what was transferred to a required savings or deposit mechanism.

This helps both parties. A worker can identify a real discrepancy instead of claiming a payment already received. An employer can demonstrate documented performance and identify any necessary correction instead of relying on an overall estimate. Start with the sector, employer's identity, actual work and month to which each payment relates.

Start with gross wages, not the amount left in hand

Compare agreed wages and binding arrangements with the work performed. Record basic pay, additional components, absences and relevant associated entitlements. Minimum wages and any more favourable arrangement depend on the date and extent of employment; an old table does not determine wages for every employment year.

Then examine deductions and actual payments. A transfer below gross pay is not itself proof of a breach if lawful deductions apply; matching the payslip does not establish that its deductions were lawful. An advance paid mid-month also needs reconciliation so that it is neither claimed again as unpaid nor deducted twice.

Prepare a monthly line showing wages owed, each deduction and its basis, net pay, transfer date and supporting record. Use a separate column for employer contributions. This organises a review; it is not a calculator establishing entitlement.

Payslips, attendance and receipts: what does each prove?

Payslip duties and the private-employer exception

Section 24 of the Wage Protection Law governs payroll records and payslips, but section 24(d) excludes an individual employing someone outside their business or profession, subject to that provision. A private patient should therefore not automatically be assigned a company's payslip duty. The exception does not remove wage and benefit obligations. Wage Protection Law — section 24

Even without a payslip duty, organised payment records, bank evidence and acknowledgements help establish payments made. A receipt for a particular sum does not itself prove that all remaining entitlements were settled. For a company, compare the payslip with payroll records and actual transfers as well.

Work and rest in live-in home care

Case law distinguishes overtime pay from the right to weekly rest in live-in home care. Living in the care recipient’s home does not establish that every hour of the day attracts overtime under the ordinary calculation, or that the caregiver has no right to weekly rest. The special framework should not automatically be applied to shift work or another sector. Zaltman–Petrov, National Labour Court, 7 July 2016

In Chernichenkov v ORS, the National Labour Court examined the distinction between live-in home care and care work organised in shifts. It stressed the importance of the actual work pattern; a particular change in hours or overnight arrangements does not automatically bring the work within the ordinary calculation. In that case, eight-hour shifts were distinguished from the home-care arrangement addressed in Gloten. Record the work, residence and rest arrangements separately rather than importing a calculation from another case. Labour Appeal 29613-10-18 and related appeal, paragraphs 55–63

Record when rest occurred and what happened during it. Choosing to remain at home during free time differs from being required to work. An unexplained fixed payment is not proof that all work during rest was paid.

A deduction requires a legal basis, not just a label

Section 25 of the Wage Protection Law limits permitted deductions. Specific provisions also apply to foreign workers, including medical-insurance and housing deductions. A general signature of consent cannot expand the list at the employer's discretion.

Distinguish a required or permitted tax deduction, a debt or advance meeting legal conditions, a limited insurance or housing deduction, and a payment the employer must add from its own resources. Each requires its own basis. An “expenses” line does not explain the deduction.

Medical insurance

Identify an active policy, the expense incurred or committed, and the applicable participation limit and ceiling for the employment category and period. The employer's insurance cost is not the amount automatically deductible. If money was deducted without insurance being arranged, the missing coverage and the wage charge are separate issues.

Housing and the 2026 changes

A housing deduction is assessed by building type, location, expenditure and period. The amending regulations were published in Subsidiary Legislation Gazette No. 12476 on 16 July 2026. Regulation 6 of the amendment provides for commencement on the first day of the month following 30 days from publication — 1 September 2026. The new framework applies to accommodation from September, not earlier periods. Actual expenditure and the applicable ceiling are checked separately. Official consolidated regulations · Ministry of Labour commencement notice

Under the definition, housing expenses also include municipal rates, water and electricity, and furniture and electrical appliances; the separate ancillary-expenses component was abolished. The ceiling mechanism was replaced and distinguishes permanent from temporary movable buildings, with a specific arrangement for accommodation at a building-work site. The ownership-based reduction in the former mechanism is not part of the new mechanism. The same expense must not be charged twice. Alongside the housing ceiling, regulation 5 imposes a combined ceiling on housing deductions, medical-insurance deductions and debt deductions under section 25(a)(6) of the Wage Protection Law; it is not a general ceiling for every tax, advance or other deduction. Where employment spans commencement, distinguish the periods and their applicable arrangements.

A deposit is not another name for every savings arrangement

Identify coverage before calculating

The Deposit Regulations address a defined framework of workers, employers and applicable arrangements. An amendment published in February 2026 expanded the duty's framework while retaining exceptions, including private home-care employment outside a business, employment in the experts sector and agriculture. A care company is not equivalent to a private patient for this exception. Deposit Regulations amendment, regulations gazette 12273

The amount depends on the applicable arrangement and components; this article applies no universal contribution rate. Examine the wage base, commencement of eligibility, partial periods and transitional provisions. A total balance confirmation alone cannot identify a missing month.

Duties, accrual periods and transfer dates

The start of an arrangement and the first payment date may differ. A July 2026 amendment extended the transitional period for the commerce and services and restaurant sectors to nine months, with the first payment at the beginning of the following month. The precise calendar payment date and covered months must be established from the updated transitional provision and current implementation guidance, rather than copying the date from the old circular. This neither postpones every employment obligation nor applies to every sector. Later amendment, regulations gazette 12445

An earlier circular specifying a pre-amendment date should therefore not be relied upon, nor should every amount awaiting transfer during the transitional period be treated as already overdue. Equally, the transition does not erase duties under another arrangement or an earlier period.

Private patients, care companies and approximate performance

Where the deposit route does not apply, pension-related duties may still exist. Appropriate cases require examination of approximate performance of a pension arrangement that cannot be implemented in the ordinary way. Such a cash payment does not itself create death or disability insurance.

Identify the binding source, eligibility and payment date. An arrangement not involving transfer of an employee contribution to a fund does not justify deducting a notional “employee share” as though transferred. A separate account maintained by an employer for future payment may help planning, but does not thereby become the statutory deposit account.

The same worker may receive payments from a patient and a company with different obligations. Compare each arrangement with its performance, without assigning one party's entire duty to the other or counting one payment twice.

Deposits and severance pay: what was actually covered?

Section 14 arrangements and a statutory deposit under the Foreign Workers Law have different legal bases. The Foreign Workers Law addresses a deposit's effect on severance liability for the covered period and amount. A deposit confirmation does not establish that all severance liability for the entire employment period was discharged. Foreign Workers Law — section 1K(f)

Separate pension contributions, the severance component and missing contributions; then examine any additional severance pay due under the termination circumstances and arrangement. A gap may concern the wage base, rate, number of months or missing transfer, each requiring different treatment. The worker's withdrawal is another question and does not determine whether the employer performed its duty.

Turn a concern into a discrepancy that can be examined

Hypothetical example: a caregiver receives a company payslip and a direct patient payment. The deposit statement shows company contributions only. This alone proves neither that the company underpaid nor that the patient has no liability: identify the work share and arrangement attributable to each party and the payments made for them.

Organise evidence by month, identifying the binding source and missing document. A discrepancy can lead to a clarification request, corrected account or focused demand. Underpayment may support a claim for the missing component and other remedies subject to their conditions; wage-delay compensation or another award is not automatic for every difference.

Before sending a financial demand

Contact Menahemov Shpigel & Co. with agreements, available payslips, bank payments, deduction records and contribution confirmations. Identify the sector, parties and disputed periods. Following suitability and conflict checks, options for clarification, negotiation or representation can be examined.

Further reading: Contracts and employment duties, Ending a foreign worker's employment and the service page.

This is general information about Israeli law at the research date. Amounts, eligibility and coverage require individual review and updating before action.