Extended Protections for Employees on Military Reserve Duty 2025

Written by Shira Lahat

The Ministry of Labor published yesterday an expansion order that applies the terms of a collective agreement that was signed between the employers’ organizations and the largest employees’ union, on all employers and employees in Israel. The validity of an expansion order is equal to that of a law.

This expansion order seeks to extend the validity of the order from March 2024, so that it will also apply in 2025 with slight modifications.

The main terms of the expansion order are:

The protected period from dismissal after military service is extended to 60 days (instead of the standard 30 days), for employees who served in the reserves for at least 60 days during 2025 (including continuous reserve days that began in 2024 and continued into 2025, even if there were short breaks as defined in the expansion order).
Right to an additional 8 days of paid absence for spouses of those who served in the reserves.
Right to accumulate leave for the following two years for those who could not take leave due to circumstances related to war.

Further details:

Extension of the protected period from dismissal
1. The Discharged Soldiers Law (Return to Work), 1949, stipulates that an employer may not dismiss an employee during their military reserve service, and if the reserve service exceeds two days, also not for 30 days after the employee’s return from military service. The expansion order extends this protected period to 60 days after the end of military service (i.e., an employee cannot be dismissed for an additional 30 days beyond the initial 30 days stipulated by law).
2. The extended protection applies to those who served (or will serve) in the reserves for at least 60 days (in the aggregate) during the period between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2025, including consecutive reserve days that began in 2024 and continued into 2025, even if there were short interruptions, as defined in the extension order.
3. Regarding the initial 30 days of protection stipulated by law, an employer may apply to the “Labor Committee” at the Ministry of Defense and request a special permit for the employee’s dismissal during this protected period. The expansion order specifies that regarding the additional 30 days, the employer may appeal to the “Supervisory Committee” (a forum established by the Ministry of Labor for this purpose), and request permission to dismiss during this extended protected period. The committee will only grant permission for dismissals if the employer presents special reasons and proves that the requested dismissals are not due to military service.
4. During the period of active reserve duty and the 60 days protection period thereafter, the employer shall not change the employee’s working conditions, including not transferring them to another position, nor adding or removing tasks. The employer shall also not place the employee on unpaid leave during this period, unless approval is obtained from the oversight committee.
Additional absence with pay
- The expansion order states that the spouse of a reservist may be absent from work with pay, beyond their entitlement under the law (i.e., not counted as sick or vacation days), under the conditions detailed below.
- The number of additional absence days:
  The number of days of absence granted to the employee is a function of the accumulated reserve days of the spouse during 2025:
  - Up to 30 Reserve Days Accumulated – 0 Days of Absence with Pay for the spouse.
  - 31 – 60 Reserve Days Accumulated – 2 Days of Absence with Pay for the spouse.
  - 61-90 Reserve Days Accumulated – 4 Days of Absence with Pay for the spouse.
  - 91-120 Reserve Days Accumulated – 6 Days of Absence with Pay for the spouse.
  - 121 and above Reserve Days Accumulated – 8 Days of Absence with Pay for the spouse.
    (For the purpose of this eligibility, “accumulated reserve days” means reserve duty days performed in the year 2025, as well as reserve duty days that began in the year 2024 and continue consecutively into the year 2025, including if there were breaks of up to 5 days between one active reserve duty and another).
- Eligibility:
  For eligibility purposes, a “spouse of a reservist”, needs to meet one of the following conditions:
  - Spouse of a reservist with at least one child under the age of 14.
  - Spouse of a reservist with a child up to the age of 18 who is seriously ill or undergoing dialysis treatment.
  - Spouse of a reservist who is the sole guardian or caretaker of a close relative with a disability as defined in section 5 of the Equal Rights for persons with Disabilities Law, 1998.
  - Spouse of a reservist or their spouse’s parent who is ill as defined in the Sick Pay Law.
- Utilization of absence days:
  The spouse is entitled to utilize the mentioned days of absence for the following circumstances:
  - Illness of a child under 14 years old.
  - Exclusive care or supervision of a close relative with a disability as defined in the Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law, 1998.
  - Illness of a child under 18 years old suffering from a serious or chronic illness or undergoing dialysis.
  - Care for an ill parent as defined in the Sick Pay Law.
  - Extension of the childbirth and parenting period for the spouse.
  - Supervision and care of a child.
  - Necessary absence due to the active military service of the spouse, for essential household management and maintenance, which can only be performed during working hours.
  - Other absences – in coordination with the employer.
- Absence days can only be claimed during the active military service of the spouse, and during 2025 only.
- Days of absence that meet the above conditions and were utilized during 2025 prior to the publication of the expansion order, will be counted against the aforementioned days. Therefore, if they were deducted from another absence quota (vacation, illness), the employee will be credited with the deducted vacation or sick days, and the absence will be charged against the entitlement according to the extension order.
- Absence days can be utilized partially as hours of absence and not necessarily as a full workday off.
- Absences related to illness require a medical certificate.
- The right to absence days cannot be accumulated or redeemed.
- Absence days are in addition to any other entitlement and do not account for sick or vacation days for those entitled to them.
- The payment for absence days is equivalent to vacation pay.
- The spouse of a reservist who is entitled to receive from their employer more than 35 days of annual leave in a calendar year, will only be entitled to half the number of days of absence covered, and they can only be utilized due to child illness or parent illness as mentioned above.

Absence Time for the Spouse of a Reservist:
The Women’s Employment Law stipulates that, subject to the conditions set forth in the law, an employee is entitled to be absent from work for one hour per day during the period in which their spouse is serving in reserves, if the employee is employed full-time.

The expansion order extends the right to also apply to employees employed in multiple part-time positions if the total employment hours amount to a full-time position. This right applies at each workplace according to the relative position’s workload in the same place.
Accumulation of Annual Leave:
- The expansion order broadens the possibility for employees to accumulate unused vacation days, even without the employer’s consent, despite any provisions in any contract of employment. The right is to accumulate vacation days for the next two years of work if, during 2025, one of the following applies to the employee:The employer did not provide vacation to the employee.
  - Days of absence that meet the above conditions and were utilized during 2025 prior to the publication of the expansion order, will be counted against the aforementioned days. Therefore, if they were deducted from another absence quota (vacation, illness), the employee will be credited with the deducted vacation or sick days, and the absence will be charged against the entitlement according to the extension order.
  - Absence days can be utilized partially as hours of absence and not necessarily as a full workday off.
  - Absences related to illness require a medical certificate.
  - The right to absence days cannot be accumulated or redeemed.
  - Absence days are in addition to any other entitlement and do not account for sick or vacation days for those entitled to them.
  - The payment for absence days is equivalent to vacation pay.
  - The spouse of a reservist who is entitled to receive from their employer more than 35 days of annual leave in a calendar year, will only be entitled to half the number of days of absence covered, and they can only be utilized due to child illness or parent illness as mentioned above.

5. Applicability of the Expansion Order Provision
The expansion order applies to all employees and employers, except for those employers and employees who are subject to the provisions of a collective agreement in the public sector regarding the extension of the protected period from dismissal for reserve duty servicemen, additional paid absence days for their spouses, and the accumulation of vacation days for certain employees.

For a copy of the expansion order click here.

We are at your disposal for any questions.