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Rights of Reservists and their Spouses; Protections for Family Members of Soldiers Who Fell in combat

3 February 2025

Although ceasefires are in effect on both the southern and northern fronts, there remains a significant reserve duty burden, with accompanying effects impacting reservists, their spouses, and their workplaces.

As a result, a collective agreement has been signed with a primary goal of expanding and extending the arrangements applying to reservists and to their spouses whose period was originally defined as extending to the end of 2024. The validity of this agreement is contingent on the issuance of an extension order such that its provisions will apply to all workers and employers in the general economy.

In addition, we provide an update on a legislative amendment that provides protection against dismissal during the first year of mourning to families of soldiers who died during the war.

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On January 29, 2025, the Presidency of Business Organizations and the Histadrut signed a collective agreement, the primary goal of which is to expand and extend the arrangements applying to reservists and to their spouses whose period was originally defined as extending to the end of 2024.

The validity of this agreement is contingent on the issuance of an extension order such that its provisions will apply to all workers and employers in the general economy.

The protections and benefits provided to reservists and to their spouses are part of a “package deal” which also includes the extension of the applicable period of the provisions regarding indemnification (at a rate of 20% of wages) of employers in the private sector for their obligations to continue making social benefit deposits for employees who are carrying out their reserve service. The regulations on this matter were approved in a hearing of the Knesset Labor and Welfare Committee held on January 29, 2025.

Following are the main arrangements that will apply after the extension order is applied to the collective agreement. These, as noted, are essentially similar to the arrangements that applied over the course of 2024:

Protection from Dismissals for Employees Who Served in the Reserves

Under the arrangement that will be applied, an employee who served in the reserves, over the course of the period of the agreement, for a cumulative total of 60 days or more will be protected from dismissal for a period of 60 days after the end of the reserve service, and not for a period of 30 days as stipulated in the law itself.

Please note: “Cumulative days of reserve duty in the course of the period of the agreement” are defined as days of reserve duty that were served in 2025, with the addition of days of reserve duty that were served in 2024 provided that those days of reserve duty continued continuously into 2025. In other words, days of reserve duty that have been served since the outbreak of the war until the end of 2024 and did not continue consecutively into 2025 will not be considered for these purposes.

If an employer wishes to terminate the employment of an employee who served 60 days of reserve duty or more in 2025 before 60 days have passed from the date of end of the reserve duty, such employer will be required to obtain a permit from a committee that will handle requests on this matter.

Please note: A permit is also required from the committee if an employer wishes to place the employee on unpaid leave. In addition, in the absence of a permit it is forbidden to change the terms of the employee’s employment during the 60-day period after the end of the reserve duty, for example transfer to another position or increase or decrease of assignments.

Additional Days of Absence for Spouses of Reservists

Under this arrangement, a person who meets the definition of “spouse of a reservist” will be entitled to an additional number of days of paid absence derived from the number of cumulative reserve days performed by their spouse, as detailed below:

Cumulative Days Served in the Period Covered by the Agreement	Spouse’s Additional Paid Absence Days
Up to 30	0
31-60	2
61-90	4
91-120	6
121 and above	8

In a manner similar to the arrangement that applied in this context through the end of 2024, those eligible are spouses of a person who served in the reserves in cases where the couple has at least one child under the age of 14 or a child up to the age of 18 who has a chronic illness or is undergoing dialysis; in cases where the spouse of the reservist is the exclusive caretaker for a relative who is a person with a disability; or in cases where a reservist or their spouse has a sick parent as defined in the law dealing with absence due to a parent’s illness.
The days absent can be utilized for purposes of supervising and caring for a child; for caring for or supervising a relative who meets one of the definitions above; for extending birth and parenting period leaves; for making necessary household management and maintenance arrangements that can only be carried out during work hours; or for other absences, in coordination with the employer.
This arrangement includes provisions regarding days of absence utilized before the arrangement came into effect.

Please note:

These additional days of absence can only be utilized during the spouse’s reserve service, not before or after that service.

Days of absence can also be partially realized as hours of absence.

If this entitlement is not utilized by the end of 2025, it cannot be redeemed or accumulated beyond that period.

The value of a day of absence is defined as the value of the employee’s salary on a day of leave.

In a case of absence for the purpose of treating a sick relative, the absence is conditional on presentation of a medical certificate adjacent in time to the date of absence.

If the spouse of a reservist has an annual vacation quota of more than 35 days (not including sick leave), the number of days of absence will be half of that specified in the table, and the days of absence may only be utilized for the purpose of caring for and supervising of a sick relative.

It is recommended that you seek advice regarding individual implementation of this entitlement and its utilization.

Accrual of Vacation Days for Reservists

In a manner similar to the arrangement that applied in this context through the end of 2024, an employee will be able to accrue vacation days in 2025 even without the consent of the employer, and add these vacation days to the vacation days to which they are entitled for the next two years of employment, if during 2025 one of the conditions specified in the arrangement is met, including a case in which the employee is absent due to reserve duty for at least five consecutive days.

Additional cases in which there is an entitlement to accrual of vacation days are: if the employer did not give vacation to the employee; if the employee is absent in the circumstances specified in Section 2 of the Law for Protection of Workers in Times of Emergency; where the employee was called up to service or employed at a workplace under the Law for Labor Service in Times of Emergency; or where the employee was employed under an overtime employment permit that was granted or amended due to the state of emergency.

Relief for the Spouse of a Reservist for Time Absent

In a manner like the arrangement that applied in 2024, the entitlement to an hour’s absence during the workday, under the conditions set out in the Women’s Employment Law, 5714-1954 (including the condition that the couple has a child up to the age of 13), will also apply when the spouse is employed full-time but split between different employers.

The scope of this entitlement will be based on the percentage of time working with each employer, subject to presentation of a certification of the actual scope of work with each employer.

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On January 28, 2025, the Knesset plenum passed the second and third (final) readings of the Families of Soldiers Fallen in Combat (Compensation and Rehabilitation) Law (Amendment 46), 5785-2025.

Under this amendment to the law, an employer may not dismiss an employee who is a family member of a fallen soldier and may not derogate from the scope of their position nor their income, in the three months following the soldier’s death unless a permit has been obtained from the Employment Committee.

Such a permit for dismissal will only be granted if serious circumstances dependent on the employee have been proven, or if the employer has ceased to operate permanently.

A permit to derogate from the scope of the position during this period will be granted if it does not affect the employee’s income, insofar as the business temporarily ceases to operate in a manner that affects all employees in the workplace.

From the fourth month after the soldier’s death until the end of the year of mourning, an employer may not dismiss a family member of a soldier who fell and may not place them on unpaid leave unless a permit has been obtained from the Employment Committee.

A permit for dismissal will be granted in this period of time if the employer proves that the dismissal is not related to the death of the soldier and if one of the following conditions is met: (1) one of the circumstances that may justify dismissal existed during the first three-month period following the death of the soldier; (2) there have been fundamental changes in the workplace, which have led to a reduction in the scope of work and the dismissal of additional employees, and the employer has proven that it is unable to continue employing the employee; or (3) the employee was given advance notice of dismissal even before the soldier’s death.

A permit for placement on unpaid leave will be granted if the employer proves that the leave is not related to the soldier’s death and is being made with the employee’s consent; or if it is proven that the employee wishes to take unpaid leave, even if the leave is due to the death of the soldier.