Working Hours and Overtime in Israel

What Are The Standard Working Hours In Israel?

An employee whose age is 17 or younger has a maximum of 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week. An employee whose age is 18 or older is allowed to work 42 hours per week. A minimum meal interval of 45 minutes must be observed by employees who work more than 6 hours in a day. In typical working hours, Monday through Friday, the hours are 08:00 to 17:00.

Maximum Working Hours In Israel

Under the Hours of Work and Rest Law, the standard workweek in Israel is 42 hours, usually spread over 5 or 6 days, with a normal workday of up to 8.6 hours in a 5‑day week or 8 hours in a 6‑day week. Daily working hours, including overtime, generally may not exceed 12 hours, and you must schedule work so that employees receive the required daily and weekly rest. Employers must clearly define working hours in employment contracts and internal policies and ensure that actual schedules match these limits.

Collective agreements and extension orders may set shorter standard hours or more protective rules for specific sectors, and these will override the general framework where they are more favorable to employees. You must monitor total hours worked, including preparatory time and mandatory meetings, to avoid unlawful de facto extensions of the workday. Failure to respect statutory limits can expose you to administrative fines, civil claims for unpaid overtime, and, in serious cases, criminal liability.

Industry-Specific Exceptions

Companies hiring in sectors like healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, or hospitality may be subject to special scheduling rules. In Israel, certain roles that require continuity of service or shift work can operate with longer daily hours, provided that weekly averages and rest requirements are respected and that overtime is paid at the statutory premium rates. You should always check whether a sectoral collective agreement or specific permit from the Ministry of Labor applies to your operations.

Even in these sectors, you must ensure the average weekly limit is respected over a reference period. Where 12‑hour shifts are used, such as in hospitals or security services, you must build in sufficient breaks and ensure that total monthly overtime does not exceed the legal caps. Documenting shift patterns and obtaining written employee consent to atypical schedules is essential for compliance.

• Healthcare professionals may work 12-hour shifts with extended rest periods.
• Transport workers must comply with EU-aligned rest and driving limits.
• Manufacturing and security staff often rotate through night or weekend shifts.

Even in these sectors, you must ensure the average weekly limit is respected over a reference period. You should regularly review rosters to confirm that weekly hours, overtime caps, and minimum rest periods are not breached.

Managerial And Exempt Employees

Israeli law allows a narrow exemption from the Hours of Work and Rest Law for employees whose role requires a special degree of personal trust or whose working hours cannot be supervised, often referred to as managerial or trust‑based employees. Courts interpret this exemption restrictively, and simply giving an employee a managerial title or a higher salary is not enough to remove overtime protections. You must be able to show that the employee truly controls their own schedule or performs a senior management function with broad discretion.

Where the exemption legitimately applies, you may agree on a global salary that includes compensation for extended hours, but the employment contract should explicitly describe the nature of the role and the basis for the exemption. If an employee classified as exempt is later found not to meet the legal criteria, you can be liable retroactively for overtime at the statutory rates of 125% and 150% for the relevant period. It is therefore prudent to review classifications regularly and keep detailed job descriptions.

Statutory Full-Time Working Hours In Israel

Statutory full‑time work in Israel is generally 42 hours per week, usually spread over 5 days of about 8.6 hours or 6 days of 8 hours, excluding breaks. Many employers, particularly in the high‑tech and finance sectors, adopt shorter contractual weeks of 40 hours or even 38 hours as a benefit, but these arrangements do not change the legal overtime thresholds unless clearly agreed. You should specify in writing whether your organization defines full‑time as 42 hours or a lower contractual standard.

Part‑time employees work fewer than the full‑time weekly hours, and their pay and benefits are typically prorated based on the ratio between their scheduled hours and the full‑time benchmark. Any hours worked by part‑time staff beyond their individual schedule but below 42 weekly hours are usually paid at the regular hourly rate, while hours beyond the statutory daily or weekly limits must be paid as overtime at 125% and 150%. Clear time‑tracking and transparent payslips are essential to demonstrate correct treatment of these different hour types.

Overtime Regulations In Israel

Employers in Israel must comply with the Hours of Work and Rest Law when assigning overtime, including obtaining employee consent and respecting daily and weekly limits. You are required to maintain accurate, contemporaneous records of working hours, including start and end times and breaks, for each employee. Non‑compliance with overtime rules or recordkeeping obligations can lead to administrative fines, civil claims for unpaid overtime at 125% and 150%, and potential criminal exposure for serious or repeated violations.

What Counts As Overtime In Israel?

Overtime in Israel is generally any time worked beyond the statutory daily limit, which is typically 8.6 hours in a 5‑day week or 8 hours in a 6‑day week, or beyond 42 hours in a week. The first 2 overtime hours in a day must be paid at 125% of the regular hourly wage, and any additional overtime hours in the same day must be paid at 150%. Work performed on the weekly rest day or on a recognized public holiday is treated as premium work and is usually compensated at 150% of the regular wage plus a paid substitute rest day.

Overtime must generally be performed with the employer’s prior approval, and you should implement a clear policy requiring written or system‑logged authorization. Time that employees spend on mandatory training, meetings, or on‑call duty at the workplace can count as working time and may trigger overtime if it exceeds daily or weekly thresholds. To reduce disputes, you should ensure that employment contracts and policies explain how overtime is requested, approved, and compensated at the statutory 125% and 150% rates.

Maximum Overtime In Israel

Israeli law limits overtime to a maximum of 4 overtime hours per day, so that total daily working time does not exceed 12 hours. Weekly overtime is generally capped at 16 hours, meaning that total weekly working time should not exceed 58 hours, including regular and overtime hours. In addition, the monthly overtime cap is typically 60 hours, and annual overtime should not exceed 182 hours unless a specific permit is obtained from the Ministry of Labor.

In exceptional circumstances, employers may apply to the Ministry of Labor for a permit to extend overtime beyond the standard caps, but such permits are usually time‑limited and subject to strict conditions. Even with a permit, you must still respect minimum daily rest of 8 hours and weekly rest of at least 36 consecutive hours. You should monitor overtime at the individual employee level to ensure that no one exceeds the 4 hours per day, 16 hours per week, 60 hours per month, or 182 hours per year thresholds without a valid permit.

Overtime Payout Rates In Israel

Overtime pay in Israel is calculated based on the employee’s regular hourly wage, which is derived by dividing the monthly salary by 182 hours for a full‑time employee. The first 2 overtime hours worked in a day must be paid at 125% of the regular hourly rate, and any additional overtime hours that day must be paid at 150%. For example, if an employee’s regular hourly rate is 40 ILS, the first 2 overtime hours are paid at 50 ILS per hour and subsequent overtime hours that day at 60 ILS per hour.

Work performed on the weekly rest day or on a recognized public holiday is generally compensated at 150% of the regular hourly wage plus a paid substitute rest day, effectively providing both a 1.5x monetary premium and an additional day off. Some collective agreements and workplace policies grant higher premiums, such as 175% or 200% for holiday work, but you may not pay less than the statutory 150% minimum. You must itemize overtime hours and the applicable 125% and 150% rates clearly on payslips so employees can verify that they have been paid correctly.

Rest Periods And Breaks In Israel

In Israel, employees typically work up to 8–8.6 hours per day and 42 hours per week, and rest periods are designed to protect health and safety within this framework. The Hours of Work and Rest Law requires meal breaks during shifts longer than 6 hours and mandates daily and weekly rest that cannot be waived by agreement. As an employer, you must schedule and document these breaks so they align with your employees’ actual working hours and do not push them beyond legal limits.

• Meal Break: Employees who work more than 6 hours in a day are entitled to a meal break of at least 45 minutes, including one uninterrupted segment of at least 30 minutes, during which they are generally free to leave the workplace.
• Daily Rest: Between the end of one workday and the start of the next, employees must receive at least 8 consecutive hours of rest, and in many cases 9 hours, especially where long shifts or night work are involved.
• Weekly Rest: Employees are entitled to at least 36 consecutive hours of weekly rest, which for Jewish employees must include Saturday and for non‑Jewish employees may be scheduled on Friday, Sunday, or another agreed day.
• Minors: Employees under 18 are subject to stricter rules, including shorter maximum daily hours, a prohibition on night work, and mandatory breaks that are at least 45 minutes during shifts exceeding 6 hours.
• Employer Duty: Employers must actively schedule, communicate, and record breaks and rest periods, and they may face fines or claims if employees are pressured to skip breaks or work during their statutory daily or weekly rest.

Night Shifts And Weekend Regulations In Israel

Night and weekend work are legal in Israel but subject to additional employer responsibilities and employee protections. You must ensure that scheduling such work does not breach maximum daily and weekly hours, and that employees receive the required daily and weekly rest. Certain categories of workers, such as minors and pregnant employees, have special protections that significantly limit or prohibit night and weekend work.

Night work in Israel is generally defined as work performed during a period of at least 7 consecutive hours that includes the interval between 22:00 and 06:00. Employees may not perform night work on more than 1 week out of 3 on a regular basis, unless a specific permit or collective agreement provides otherwise. You must also ensure that night workers receive at least 7 hours of continuous rest after a night shift and that total daily hours, including night work, do not exceed 12.

• Premium Pay: Israeli law does not mandate a specific statutory percentage premium solely for night work, so there is no fixed 125% or 150% rate just for working at night, but many collective agreements and company policies grant night shift premiums in the range of 110%–150% of the regular hourly wage.
• Health Monitoring: While there is no universal statutory requirement for periodic medical exams for all night workers, employers are encouraged to offer health assessments and to adapt schedules if night work aggravates an employee’s medical condition, especially in safety‑sensitive roles.
• Workplace Restrictions: Minors are generally prohibited from working at night, particularly between 22:00 and 06:00, and pregnant employees may not be required to perform night work if they provide a medical certificate indicating that such work is harmful.

Weekend work in Israel is closely tied to the statutory weekly rest requirement of at least 36 consecutive hours, which for most Jewish employees includes Saturday as the main rest day. Employees who work on their weekly rest day or on a recognized public holiday are generally entitled to 150% pay for those hours plus a paid substitute rest day of 36 consecutive hours. You must obtain employee consent for regular rest‑day work, respect religious observance where applicable, and ensure that scheduling does not deprive employees of their statutory weekly rest.