July 2016 updates

Effective in July 2016’s payroll there will come into effect several changes in labor laws:
1.  Mandatory pension law

Correction 12 to this law was updated, adding 1% to employee and employer pension plan contributions in a two step update: 1/2% in July 2016 and another 1/2% in jan 2017.
The current update (July 2016) % are now Employee 5.75% and Employer 6%.
This effects all employers in Israel in all sectors by way of a comprehensive ordinance signed by the Minister of Economy. The only exceptions are if the exsisting % are higher (due to a collective agreement or personal contract) or if an employee has a Bituach Menahalim plan or pension plan with lower rates but the employer contributes to a loss of work ability insurance (IWA), whereas the joint % of the Bituach Menahalim and lWA insurance is equal to or higher than 6%. In this case, only the employee’s contribution will increase, as the employer is already contributing at the new % or more.
For comparison, here is a breakdown of pre-change and after:

 

payroll Employee contribution Employer contribution Severance pay (employer) Total
Jan 2016 5.5%    6% 6% 17.5%
Jul 2016  5.75%  6.25% 6% 18%
Jan 2017  6%  6.5%   6% 18.5%

 

2. Vacation day law
The minimum number of mandatory Annual vacation days allotted is to increase by 2 days starting July 1,2016 (In essence 1 day for 2016 as it for half a year) for the first 5 years of tenure with the same employer. Above 6 years there is no change.

tenure                                      # of days allotted

up to June 30, 2016                                                         1 – 4 years                                              14 days
5  years                                               16 days

From July 1, 2016 – Dec 31,2016                                1 -4 years                                                15 days
5 years                                                 16 days

From Jan 1, 2017                                                                1- 5 years                                               16 days

Note: The number of days listed are calendar days, not work days and as such they include the weekly rest day (Shabbat) which is not a vacation day. For example employees who worked a 5 day work week got 10 days for the first 4 years (.083 days per month * 12) and those who worked a 6 day work week got 12 days for the first 4 years (1 day per month * 12).

This is very general, there are other factors that go into what employees receive in actuality, such as full or part-time, if an employee worked at least 200 or 240 days total during the year. In any case the wording of the law is binding, even if difficult to comprehend and this article is not legal advice. In instances where a personal contract or sectorial/ collective agreement entitles employees to more vacation days than listed above, this update does not apply.

3. Minimum wage update

Effective July 1st 2016 the third step of the gradual update of the min. wage to 5,000 sh per month comes into effect. The new minimum wage starting in July 2016 will be 4,825 sh  for a full time monthly rated position.

The new minimum hourly rate is 25.94 sh

Youth min wage rates

Age % of min wage min monthly rate (40 weekly hours) Min Hourly rate
עד 16 70% 3,377.5  19.52 
עד 17 75% 3,618.75  20.92 
עד 18 83% 4004.75  23.15 
Apprentice 60% 2,895.00  16.73 

 

Employee’s Rights Handbook

The “Employee’s Rights Handbook”

The first comprehensive, English language guide to Israeli payroll.
Whether  you are an employer or an employee, a new oleh or an English speaker who has trouble with the Hebrew terms, this publication is for you!

 

Employees:

Understand the terminology, layout and the Hebrew terms on your payslip

Know your rights

Understand the labor laws

What mandatory things need to be itemized on the payslip?

What are the things you need to know upon termination?

How many vacation days are you entitled to?

Is Purim a paid holiday?

What are the rights of a pregnant employee?

 

Employers:

Do your payslips comply with all the new regulations?

Do you issue employees “notification of terms of employment” as required?

Are employees given a fair hearing prior to termination?

Understand what obligatory payments exist in Israel

What is allowed to be deducted from an employee’s salary?

Is an employee who is on maternity leave allowed to work from home?

Must I pay travel expenses to all employees?

What can and cannot be deducted from an employer’s salary?

Are you aware of penalties for infringement on regulations and labor laws? (avoid this by knowing what needs to be done)

 

In this guide you will find:
* An overview of labor laws, regulations, expanded regulation orders, collective
agreements and statutes

* The make-up of the Israeli payslip

* Social Security

* Health Insurance
* Income tax

* Holiday pay, sick day payment, vacation, overtime payment, bereavement leave,
maternity leave

* Minimum wage

* Youth employment
* Advance notice

  • Tips             And much more!

 

A must for employers and employees alike. Get your copy today! This 107 page publication in hard-copy is not available in stores OR Anywhere else, get your copy today !

Price: 100 sh

For orders please go to: Order Here and fill out your details. You will receive an E-invoice for payment after which your book will be mailed to you. Self pickup is available in Jerusalem: Please state if you are interested in this option.Employee's Rights Handbook

Announcing “Employee’s Rights Handbook” book launch and lectures

Book launch and lecture will be held:

In Jerusalem: on May 19th, 2015  19:00  at AACI Jerusalem, The Glassman family center Pierre Keonig st. corner of 2 Poalei Tzedek st., 4th floor (opposite Hadar mall)

In Tel-Aviv: on June 17th, 2015 16:00 at AACI Tel-Aviv, 94 A Allenby st.

 

The “Employee’s Rights Handbook”

The first comprehensive, English language guide to Israeli payroll.
Whether  you are an employer or an employee, a new oleh or an English speaker who has trouble with the Hebrew terms, this publication is for you!

 

Employees:

Understand the terminology, layout and Hebrew on your payslip

Know your rights

Understand the labor laws

What needs to be itemized on the payslip?

What are the things you need to know upon termination?

How many vacation days are you entitled to?

Is Purim a paid holiday?

What are the rights of a pregnant employee?

 

Employers:

Do your payslips comply with all the new regulations?

Do you issue employees “notification of terms of employment” as required?

Are employees given a fair hearing prior to termination?

Understand what obligatory payments exist in Israel

What is allowed to be deducted from an employee’s salary

Are you aware of penalties for infringement on regulations and labor laws? (avoid this by knowing what needs to be done)

 

In this guide you will find:
* An overview of labor laws, regulations, expanded regulation orders, collective
agreements and statutes

* The make-up of the Israeli payslip

* Social Security

* Health Insurance
* Income tax

* Holiday pay, sick day payment, vacation, overtime payment, bereavement leave,
maternity leave

* Minimum wage

* Youth employment
* Advance notice                       And much more!

 

A must for employers and employees alike. Get your copy today! This 107 page publication in hard-copy is not available in stores, on-line orders:

 

http://www.israpay.com/announcing-the-release-date-for-employees-rights-handbook/

Tax benefits for 2015 for industry shift work and residence in national preference areas extended

The tax benefits awarded to salaried employees who work shifts in the manufacturing industry, as well as the credit for living in certain areas defined as national preference have been extended from June 30, 2015 until the end of the tax year, December 31, 2015.

 

Is an employer required to give holiday gifts to his employees ?

There is no directive or law that makes holiday gifts to employees mandatory. It is however, a nice gesture and one usually well appreciated by employees. The right of employees to a holiday gift may be embedded in an individual work contract or a collective work agreement, an expanded regulation order based on a collective agreement or common practice in the past in the place of work. In any of these cases, the employer would be bound to the agreement.
In the public sector, this is specified in the collective work agreement.

If an employer does give employees holiday gifts, with regard to eligibility of employees who are currently on non-paid leave, maternity leave, etc, if it is common practice at the palce of work, it is the employer’s discretion whether to give employees currently not receiving pay or not and how much.

Some employers give permanant employees one gift and a lesser gift to part-time or temp employees.

With regard to taxes; section 2 (2) of the Income Tax Order specifies that “any benefit given to an employee by an employer, whether money or value of money (coupons, actual gifts), whether directly given or indirectly given, are considered taxable income”. The result is that gifts, or their actual worth, are taxable  (income tax, social security and health tax) and they need to be separately itemized on the payslip. Most employers will pick up the tab on the taxes (although it is not mandatory), as it’s not the employee’s fault that the employer decides to give him a gift. That basically means that if the employer gives say 350 sh in coupons, he would add a separate item on the payslip for 350 sh net, the taxes would be deducted but the employee’s net pay would not be efeected due to the gift.

gift

Announcing the release date for Employee’s Rights Handbook !!!!

Finally, the long awaited Employee’s Rights Book is to be released in Hard copy. The release date is Sunday March 15, 2015

At present, this is the only format. There may be a PDF purchase option at a later date.

The book is 107 pages of vital information for employers, employees and anyone interested in Employee’s rights, labor laws and the makeup of payroll in Israel.

Announcing the first and only English language guide in simple easy to understand language !!!

The Book also contains a dictionary of common Hebrew payroll terms and their English translation, examples of payroll forms, useful contact information, tips and more.

Get your copy today,  and know your rights !

price: 100 sh (including mailing). Optional self-pickup in Jerusalem (85 sh).
Payment via credit card or paypal, use this link:

<a href=”http://www.vcita.com/v/israpay/make_payment?pay_for=Employee’s%20Rights%20Handbook&amount=100″ target=”blank”>pay</a>

or follow the schedule an appointment on the left hand side of the home page of this site.
If you encounter a scheduling error notice, send the following details:
(Name, mailing address, email address, phone/cell number. If you wish that the invoice be made out to a different name than the one you supplied, please state)
to moshe.israpay@gmail.com and An invoice will be emailed to you. When you open the invoice you will have the ability to pay.

Check payments option:  send a check made payable to Moshe Egel-Tal along with the above info to

Israpay
P.O. Box 44429
Jerusalem 9144302

 

 

 

 

Tax break package for new immigrants and returning residents

The main benefits for new immigrants and returning residents who became citizens since January 1st 2007 and onwards are as follows:

 10 years exemption from tax paying on foreign-source income (i.e., income derived outside of Israel).

 10 years exemption from declaring on foreign-source income which are exempted.

 10 years exclusion from definition as an Israeli company resident – for a company established abroad and owned by an “Oleh” or a “Senior Returning Resident”.

 Option to be considered a foreign resident for taxation purposes, for one year from arrival.

 3.5 years of entitlement to tax credit, with options of extension.

Who is entitled to the tax benefits?

 “Oleh” – New immigrant.

 “Senior Returning Resident” – Individuals who returned to Israel after they lived continuously outside of Israel, and returned to Israel not sooner than 10 years after having ceased to be a resident of Israel. Those individuals will be considered as “Oleh”.

 One-time measure – Individuals who returned to Israel during the years 2007– 2009 are considered as “Senior Returning Resident” even if lived continuously outside of Israel for at least 5 years (instead of 10 years).

Income entitled to tax benefits:

 Passive income – 10 year exemption on dividends, interest, rent, royalties and pensions generated by assets held overseas.

 Capital gain – 10 year exemption on capital gain from the alienation of assets located abroad. Extended to assets located abroad acquired after becoming Israeli resident.

 Business income – 10 year exemption on business income generated by assets held overseas.

 Vocational and labor income – 10 year exemption on salaries and income from activities of independent nature, generated abroad. Applies to business and occupation acquired or started before or after becoming an Israeli resident. Optional track for adapting: A one-year period of adjustment from the date of arrival in Israel is granted upon request, which enables the individual to choose not to be considered as an Israeli resident for tax purposes during this one-year period.
The request for the adjustment year must be submitted within 90 days from the date of arrival in Israel.

Foreign companies held and owned by “Olim” and Senior returning residents: A company established abroad and owned by an “Oleh” or a “Senior Returning Resident”, will not be considered as an Israeli company for taxation purposes for a period of 10 years, and thus will be exempt from taxes in Israel during this period on foreignsource income (i.e., income derived outside of Israel).

Tax credits: All Israeli residents are entitled to 2 credit points (reduction of NIS 436 per month from the tax liability), as well as 0.25 additional points for a working man and 0.75 points for a working woman, which are not taxed.

Working Olim (salaried employees- ME) are entitled to additional points on top of that, for a period of three and a half years following their Aliyah. This benefit may be extended whilst carrying out compulsory army service and whilst studying at university or college. Apply for this benefit by filling out the relevant sections of form 101 (filled out upon start of employment and at the beginning of every year through your employer) and attaching a photocopy of your teudat oleh to the 101 form. the extra tax credit points for olim are as follows:

 For the first 18 months – 4.5 additional credit points (reduction of NIS 654 per month or NIS 11,772 for the first 18 months)

 For the following 12 months – 2 additional credit points (reduction of NIS 436 per month or 5232 annually)

 For the following 12 months – 1 additional credit points (reduction of NIS 218 per month or NIS 2616 annually) Additional reductions are available for parents of young children, working mothers, discharged soldiers and many other reasons

Change in Bituach Leumi law 1.1.2015

Correction 159 of the Bituach Leumi law goes into effect on January 1, 2015.

According to this correction, Bituach Leumi will no longer be able to demand payment of Bituach Leumi (social security) and Bituach Briut (health insurance) if more than 7 years have passed since their first demand of payment. After this period, the Bituach money shall not be collected, nor shall it have any effect on any rights to a stipend or benefit, if the following two conditions have been met:

1. No additional demand of payment notification was sent during the period of 7 years since the first notice.

2. Said notification in #1 above was sent, however no collection procedures or offsetting of the due amount from stipends or benefits paid were taken.

There are specifics reagrding payments due on January 1, 2015 that a period of 7 years has not elapsed yet, and with certain payments due that allows Bituach Leumi to collect up to June 30, 2016 if 16 years have not yet passed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New tax Brackets for 2015

The new tax brackets for 2015

Bracket                      Gross pay               Accumulated tax
Ceiling for 10%          5,270                               527
Ceiling for 14%          9,000                            1,049
Ceiling for 21%         13,990                           2,097
Ceiling for 31%         19,980                           3,954
Ceiling for 34%         41,790                         11,369
Ceiling for 48%         67,560                         23,739
Every additional shekel 50%

New info on Tax reconciliation

bankrupt cartoon

 

The Israel Tax Authority has updated their website for citizens who want to apply for a tax reconciliation due to several simultaneous sources of income as a salaried employee. In the past, applying on line may have saved the time of physically going in to your local tax authorityoffice and waiting on line, but you still had to wait two weeks for the official documents to be sent to you via snail-mail. So, the first improvement of this process is an immediate procurment of the documents and the ability to immediately print them directly from the site !

In addition, every application recieves a serial number that can be accessed from any computer with internet capability to print extra copies at will.

The 3rd upgrade is that in the past, this was limited to a combined gross salary ceiling (from all sources) of 188,712 sh, this amount was updated to 436,272 sh !

And last, but not least, in the past you were allowed 3 tries, if you input mistaken information via the site, now that has been doubled to 6 tries, three and another three tries after 24 hours have past from the first three tries.

Save the time and do your tax reconciliation on your own time and in the comfort of your home ! No lines and no waiting !

Highly recommended

 

https://www.misim.gov.il/shteumeimas/frmPreMain.aspx

 

Havra’a payment in several installments – at which rate are they paid ?

David is a small employer. In order not to raise his monthly payroll costs but at the same time abide by the labor laws, he pays the annual Havra’a payment in 3 installments: in April, June and August. The first two payments were paid at the known rate at the time of payment (previous June’s rate) and the last payment in August employees received the updated new rate.

While employees would rather receive the full amount in one payment, it is the employer’s decision and yes, it is legal. There are some employers who divide the payment into 12 installments thus making their monthly payroll costs even more evened out.

This payment needs to be itemized separately on the payslip and the rate must be updated annually, on the 1st of July each year.

David’s employees signed a petition requesting a retroactive payment for all employees on the rate used to for the first two payments.

So, is David required to pay the difference in the rate for the first two installments to his employees in April and June when the new rate becomes known in July or on August’s installment ?

The answer is no. Since the payment is always according to the last known rate, the employer has fulfilled the wording of the general collective agreement.

Everything you wanted to know about travel expenses to and from work

reimbursement of travel expenses to and from work to salaried employees is an expanded regulation order. As such it is mandatory for all employers in Israel.

The only exceptions are:
1. employees whose terms of employment are under a collective work agreement that has favorable terms.
2. employees with physical or mental disabilities who are employed in protected places of employment that the State of Israel contributes towards their upkeep.
3. employees who live within walking distance from the place of work (less than 2 bus stops).
4. employees who receive a ride to and from work at their employer’s expense or on behalf of the employer. (employees who receive a ride one way are eligible for
half of the travel expenses below). This includes employees who have a company/leasing/rental car from their employer.

The maximum mandatory amount per day is 26.40 sh (from Jan 2014). This amount is updated periodically according to the changes in public transportation rates and it is incorporated into the expanded regulation order.

All employees who need transportation in order to get to work, are entitled via the expanded regulation order, to their employer’s participation for travel expenses by public transportation (bus and or train, not taxis). If an employee needs more than one bus to get to work, he is entitled to participation for that as well (under the condition that he needs at least 3 city bus stops to reach the place of work), up to the maximum mandatory amount per day.

Payment is via the payslip along with salary, in a separately itemized line on the payslip. In general, travel expenses are paid gross (not net) and are subject to income tax, social security and health tax (as salary is). If an employee’s contract or work agreement specifies that travel expense will be paid as a net payment, this means that the taxes are paid by the employer, which is legal but not very common.

The amounts are the fare for a single ride multiplied by the number of rides per day needed by the employee multiplied by the number of days worked (regardless of the number of hours worked). If there is a monthly bus card or a reduced rate bus card, the employer can pay the cheapest of the options. For absent days (no matter what the reason, even if they are paid absences, employees are not eligible for travel expense reimbursement).