An employee on reserve duty (miluim) keeps getting paid for the days they serve: the employer pays them the reserve duty benefit with their salary, and Bituach Leumi (the National Insurance Institute) refunds the amount to the employer.
This guide is for employers, office managers and whoever prepares payroll, including teams whose head office abroad has never dealt with Israeli reserve duty. It covers who pays and when, how to file the refund claim, what confirmation to ask the employee for, what the law says about dismissal, and how to record reserve duty days so that payroll, the confirmation and the claim all show the same days.
Who pays the employee during reserve duty, and what Bituach Leumi refunds
According to Bituach Leumi, there are two ways to receive the reserve duty benefit:
- Through the employer: an employee on a monthly salary, or an employee who worked for you at least 75 days in the three months before the service. You pay them the benefit with their salary and get a refund from Bituach Leumi.
- Directly from Bituach Leumi: an employee who meets neither of these conditions. They file the claim themselves.
The reserve duty benefit is employment income. So it appears on the payslip, and the regular deductions are made from it.
How much Bituach Leumi refunds
Bituach Leumi calculates the benefit from the salary you reported in the claim, and adds cost-of-living increments as the law provides. For a salaried employee, the daily benefit is the gross salary for the three months before the service, divided by 90.
The benefit has a minimum and a maximum. As of 1.1.2026:
| Per day | Per month | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum | NIS 328.76 | NIS 9,863 |
| Maximum | NIS 1,730.33 | NIS 51,910 |
And if the refund is higher than what you paid? According to Bituach Leumi, if it refunded you more than you paid the employee, you must pay the employee the difference.
How the employer files the claim
The refund doesn't arrive on its own. According to Bituach Leumi, this is how you file:
- The form: Form 501, the employer's claim for a refund of reserve duty benefits.
- Where: at the Bituach Leumi branch that handles your employer file.
- When: as early as possible.
- What to report: the service period exactly as it appears on the military form, without splitting it.
For an employee who is not on a monthly salary, Bituach Leumi also asks you to attach payslips or salary confirmations for the 6 months before the service.
Confirmation of reserve duty: what to ask the employee for
The confirmation is Form 3010, the confirmation of the service period. When the employee brings it in, Bituach Leumi recommends checking three things:
- That the confirmation is properly signed.
- That the employee's personal details are recorded correctly.
- That the service period is recorded correctly.
Ask for the confirmation as soon as the employee is back, not at the end of the month. Its dates are the basis for the claim, and so also for recording the reserve duty days in attendance.
Protecting the employee: dismissal and changes to their terms
The Discharged Soldiers (Reinstatement in Employment) Law, in section 41A, protects an employee who serves in the reserves:
- No dismissal because of reserve duty. You may not dismiss an employee because of their reserve duty, because they were called up, or because of expected service, including because of how often or how long they serve. Such a dismissal is void.
- During the service: you may not dismiss the employee without a permit from the Employment Committee.
- 30 days after the service: after service of more than two consecutive days, for 30 days from the end of the service you also may not dismiss the employee, or cut their position or their income, without such a permit.
- Notice period: these periods do not count toward the notice period for dismissal.
- Continuity of employment: an absence for reserve duty is not considered a break in the employee's continuity of employment.
The spouse of a reservist is also protected at work, with restrictions on what their own employer may do.
In times of emergency, the law also includes temporary provisions, which change from time to time. Before any decision to dismiss an employee on reserve duty or change their terms, check the current wording or consult an employment lawyer. Employees who stay home under Home Front Command instructions are a separate topic, with its own rules on what the employer pays and what it may not do.
Reserve duty and vacation: why reserve duty is never recorded as vacation
Under the Annual Leave Law, reserve duty days are not counted as vacation days. If an employee is called up in the middle of their vacation, the reserve duty days are recorded as reserve duty, and they do not come off the employee's vacation balance.
Reserve duty recorded as vacation takes away vacation days the employee never used, and they will notice it on the payslip.
Recording reserve duty days in attendance so payroll and the refund match
Reserve duty days appear in three places: the confirmation from the army, the payslip and the claim to Bituach Leumi. When all three show the same days, the refund matches what you paid. Here's how to keep it that way:
- An absence type of its own. Reserve duty days are recorded as "reserve duty", not as vacation and not as an empty day.
- The dates on the confirmation. Each day is recorded on its own date, exactly as on Form 3010.
- Service that runs across two months. Service that starts in one month and ends in the next is recorded in both months according to the dates on the confirmation, but in the claim it is reported as one period, without splitting it.
- The confirmation is on file. Check that Form 3010 has arrived before you approve the report.
At the end of the month, go over the report and make sure there are no empty days and that every reserve duty day appears on the payslip under its own code.
How it looks in ProperTime
Reserve duty days are recorded in the same place as attendance:
- A "reserve duty" absence type: set it up once, alongside sick leave, vacation and any other type you need.
- Reporting and approval: the employee reports reserve duty from the mobile app or the computer, and the manager approves during the month, against the dates on the confirmation.
- The payroll file: at the end of the month, reserve duty days are mapped to your payroll code and go out in a file ready to load into leading payroll systems, together with the other absences already approved.
That way, the reserve duty days on the payslip are the same days as on the confirmation, and filing the claim is easy. More about the ProperTime attendance system.
This is general information, correct as of October 2026. Amounts, temporary provisions and special arrangements change, so check the full details with Bituach Leumi or an employment lawyer.
Sources (checked in October 2026). Bituach Leumi (in Hebrew): An employer whose employee serves in the reserves, How to file the claim, Eligibility conditions, Benefit amounts. The laws (in Hebrew): Discharged Soldiers (Reinstatement in Employment) Law, section 41A, Annual Leave Law, National Legislation Database.
Want reserve duty days to reach payroll exactly as they appear on the confirmation? Leave your details and we'll set up a 14-day trial for you, with real people supporting you along the way. No commitment, no credit card.