Most people look at the number at the bottom of a payslip, check that the bank transfer arrived, and file it away. That habit is exactly what makes underpayment so easy to hide.
A payslip is not just a receipt. It is a monthly account of how the employer described your work. And if the description is wrong, the payment built on it is wrong too.
Reading a payslip properly takes about five minutes once you know what to look for. This article teaches you that order.
Start with identity and the period — not the total
Before looking at any numbers, confirm the basics: Is your name spelled correctly? Is the employer’s name correct? What month does this payslip cover?
These details feel administrative, but they matter later if you ever need to compare multiple months or prove a pattern. A payslip with the wrong month, the wrong name, or the wrong employer creates confusion when you need clarity most.
Then read the work summary
This section is where problems most often begin. It should show your regular working hours or days, any overtime, any rest-day or holiday work, and any absences — sick leave, annual leave, or unpaid days.
Read this section against your own memory of the month. If you remember working six long days a week, the slip should show a pattern that matches. If it shows only regular hours with no overtime when you stayed late regularly, that gap is where your question starts.
Then — and only then — read the deductions
Many workers skip this section because the labels are in Hebrew and the numbers look small. Skipping this section is a mistake.
Here are five Hebrew terms that appear on most payslips and are worth recognising:
- שכר בסיס (schar basis) — base salary
- שעות נוספות (sha’ot nosafoot) — overtime hours
- ניכויים (nikuyim) — deductions
- דמי הבראה (dmei havra’a) — convalescence pay
- ימי מחלה (yemei machalah) — sick days
If a line on your payslip contains none of these words and you do not recognise it, that line deserves a question.
Permitted deductions under Israeli law include certain pension-related contributions, health insurance, and specific housing arrangements where these have been properly agreed. But a printed deduction line is not automatically a legal one. A small deduction repeated every month for twelve months is not a small thing.
Look for anything that repeats without a clear explanation. Look for anything that appeared this month but was not there before. Look for housing deductions that seem higher than what was agreed.
If you do not understand a line, ask what it is. “Please explain the NIS 180 deduction that appears every month under this code” is a reasonable, calm question that any employer should be able to answer.
A practical walkthrough
Say your bank transfer this month is slightly lower than expected. Here is how to trace it:
Step one — identity and month: correct. Step two — work summary: regular hours match, but one day marked as “annual leave” that you know you were present for. Step three — deductions: same as usual, nothing new.
The issue is now specific: one day coded incorrectly as leave. The complaint shifts from “my salary feels low” to something precise: “Please correct the leave entry for [date]. I was present that day.”
That kind of question is specific enough to demand a real answer — and documented enough to use if the answer never comes.
The warning signs worth watching
A correct hourly rate on a slip that shows too few hours still means underpayment. An absence coded as “annual leave” when it was sick leave drains two balances at once. A housing deduction higher than the agreed amount is a slow loss that adds up over a year. A payslip that changes format suddenly — new codes, different categories, different layout — is worth examining carefully.
None of these are automatic proof of abuse. Many payroll errors are exactly that: errors. The purpose of reading carefully is to catch those errors while the month is still fresh and corrections are still easy to make.
💬 Found something on your payslip you cannot explain? Use Ask an Expert on LankaConnect. Describe the line or the number and get a plain-language explanation of what it means and whether it looks correct.
Keep both versions if a payslip is ever corrected
If the employer issues a corrected payslip for a past month, keep both versions — the original and the correction. The first version tells you what was happening before anyone knew you were paying attention. That history can matter a great deal later.
Simple checklist
- Check name, employer, and salary month before reading any numbers
- Compare the work summary to your own record of the month
- Read every deduction line — ask about anything you do not recognise
- Look at the final total only after checking the sections above
- Compare this month with the previous month for unexpected changes
- Save both original and corrected payslips if anything is changed
WHERE TO GET HELP
| Organisation | What they help with | Contact |
| Ombudsman for Foreign Workers’ Labour Rights — Ministry of Labor | Wage, hours, leave, dismissal complaints. Free. No lawyer needed. Complaints accepted in many languages. | 📍 Shlomo (Selma) St 53, Tel Aviv · 🌐 gov.il (search: foreign worker rights) |
| PIBA — ජනගහන හා සංක්රමණ අධිකාරිය | ඔබේ වීසා, රැකියා බලපත්රය, හෝ ඊශ්රායලයේ නෛතික තත්ත්වය ගැන ගැටළු ඇත්නම් PIBA හා සම්බන්ධ වන්න. (Visa, work permit and legal status questions) | 📞 *3450 · 🌐 piba.gov.il |
| Sri Lankan Embassy in Israel | Passport renewal, document authentication, consular assistance, emergencies | 🌐 israelembassy.gov.lk |
💬 Have a question about your rights? Use Ask an Expert on LankaConnect for a personal answer based on your real situation.
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