How many different versions of the Israeli labor law regarding “breaks” during working time are there? There is only one law and it doesn’t matter if your employer is a lawyer, a fire man, a clerk in a bank or the Prime Minister himself. The law is the same for everyone with no exceptions.
How many hours do I have to work?
The question is not how many hours you must work, but many hours do you have to work in order to be entitled by law to a paid break?
Before answering this question I want to emphasize that a employer cannot require an employee work for more than 12 hours a day. In addition you should know that by law, a full time work week is composed of 43 hours. You can work 9 hours a day for 5 days or any other arrangement but at most 12 hours a day.
In fact most employees are asked to work 9 hours, 5 times a week – a total of 45 hours. Why is that so? I will respond to all these questions in the following lines.
How many hours do I have to work in order to be eligible to a paid break and how long is this break?
An employee who is employed in his/her workplace for at least six hours or more, is entitled to a break of at least 45 minutes. This includes one break of at least a half-hour 30 consecutive minutes). If it is a short work day; before a national or religious holiday or before the weekend (Friday), the worker is entitled to a half-hour break at least (30 consecutive minutes). The worker can do whatever he wants during his break time: Eat, rest, exercise, etc. but he is supposed to stay near the premises where he works.
Typically, lunch at work is at the expense of the employee. There are cases in which the employer pays for lunch break time but it is important to note that it is not a law (paying for the break time) and it is negotiable between the sides.
This is why some have a work week of 45 and not only 43 hours. The 2 hours were added in order to have extra hours for a break during the week.
A break for prayer during the day for those who want to pray several times a day.
The Israeli law stipulates that an employee may request and receive a break at work to worship according to religious requirements. Prayer time in the workplace will be determined according to the circumstances of the case, the conditions of work, to the employee’s religion and so on.
Reservations, contrary to the provision of the law
The law determines a number of reservations if you are NOT employed as a “labor worker” = doing physical work , the law allows the employer not to give the employee any break for 8 hours (or 9 hours when the employee is employed full-time totaling five days a week). Where the work is a short work day (before holiday), or weekend (Friday), the worker is NOT entitled to a half-hour break at least. In factories where work is done in three shifts, a break for a meal and rest will be no more than 30 minutes, provided that this 30 minutes break is continuous.
General Explanation:
A “working week” by law is 43 working hours. If the employee works 45 hours (5X9) he has done 2 extra hours. These 2 extra hours are to provide the worker with the 30 minutes he MUST receive as a paid break time everyday (5 days a week) from his/her employer.
Some examples:
Example 1 (you are a clerk in a bank): If you work 9 hours a day, five days a week make a salary of 5,000 shekels and take a 30 minutes break every day, at the end of the month you will receive 5,000 shekels and nothing will be deducted from your salary because the employer doesn’t have to give you a paid break. That’s why you have spent those 2 extra hours at work – you have paid for the breaks you took.
Example 2 (you work as a physical worker in a factory or anywhere else): If you work 9 hours a day, make a salary of 5,000 shekels and take a 30 minutes break every day, in the end of the month you will receive 5,000 shekels and in addition you will be entitled to be paid for those 2 “extra hours” you had worked because the employer must give you a paid break every day.
In fact:
In fact every worker (at least the non physical worker) receives much more than one or two breaks a day. Lunch is in general 30 minutes but nobody is very strict in Israel.
Restroom time doesn’t count as a break and the law specifies that. The law also obliges the employer to provide clean and decent restrooms to all workers but in fact this is not always the case.
Changes are happening fast:
Lately, more and more employers are installing “clocks” and “smart cards”. By these tools they calculate how many hours you have been at work or out on a break. This is a new control tool more frequently used, more sophisticated than in the past. As a result, laws are changing accordingly and disputes in court are easier when you have a very accurate employee’s attendance card.
Another change is the law regarding smoking during your work time. The question is: Why should the employer pay for your pleasure? If you are a heavy smoker and you smoke 8 to 10 cigarettes in your shift totalizing at least another 30 minutes break, why should your employer pay for your addiction?
Labor law is very dynamic in Israel and changes are happening almost on a daily basis, therefore it is best to be updated.
