{"id":60469,"date":"2026-08-25T09:57:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T06:57:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yoffelaw.co.il\/working-hours-and-rest-law\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T09:57:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T06:57:19","slug":"working-hours-and-rest-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yoffelaw.co.il\/en\/working-hours-and-rest-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Working hours and rest: what Israeli law requires"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Hours of Work and Rest Law sets how long an employee may be required to work, when overtime begins and what rest is compulsory. Breaches of this law surface in claims more often than any other \u2014 and almost always because no record of hours was kept.<\/p>\n

The working week and day<\/h2>\n

The working week is 42 hours. On a five-day week the ordinary day is 8 hours 36 minutes; on a six-day week it is 8 hours, with one shorter day. Every hour beyond the daily quota is overtime, and \u00abmaking it up another day\u00bb is not a substitute for paying it.<\/p>\n

Overtime<\/h2>\n

The first two overtime hours in a day are paid at 125% of the ordinary rate, and from the third hour at 150%. Work on the weekly rest day is paid at an increased rate and requires separate consent. Overtime cannot simply be \u00abincluded in the salary\u00bb without a specific lawful arrangement \u2014 otherwise the court treats it as never having been paid at all.<\/p>\n

Breaks and rest<\/h2>\n