Work rota law: Israel's Hours of Work and Rest Law

The working day and week

A working day may not exceed eight working hours (section 2(a) of the law), and a working week may not exceed 45 working hours (section 3, as worded by Amendment 8 of 1993). Working hours beyond these limits are overtime (section 1). A collective agreement or an extension order that applies to the employer may set a shorter working week or a different working day, and then overtime starts earlier; the law does not take away such a right (section 35). The employer has to check which applies to its workers.

Overtime and work during the weekly rest

The first two overtime hours in a day are paid at no less than 125% of the regular wage, and each overtime hour after them at no less than 150% (section 16). Work during the weekly rest is paid at no less than 150% (section 17). For a single shift there is an overtime calculator.

Weekly rest

An employee's weekly rest is at least 36 consecutive hours a week (section 7). On a rota, somebody scheduled six days in a row is the first sign that this rest is at risk.

Rest between one working day and the next

There is a break of at least eight hours between one working day and the next (section 21). An evening shift ending at midnight followed by a morning shift at six is exactly the case that is easy to miss when building a whole week.

Night shifts

Night work is work with at least two of its hours between 22:00 and 06:00 (section 1), and in night work a working day may not exceed seven hours (section 2(b)). An eight-hour close in a restaurant or an eight-hour night post breaks this rule, which is why it is an easy mistake to make without noticing.

A break during the day

On a working day of six hours or more, work stops for rest and a meal for at least three quarters of an hour, including one continuous break of at least half an hour (section 20(a)). In the time clock the break is recorded with the clock-in.

What Mishmarotix checks while you assign

• A night shift longer than seven hours.
• Rest between two shifts of the same employee that is shorter than the company's minimum. The default is eight hours.
• Going over the employee's weekly hours limit.

And in the labour-law report

The labour-law report adds six working days in a row and shifts longer than the daily threshold, across the whole team and period. It is part of the compliance and payroll lock package; the price is on the pricing page. The alerts are shown to the manager and do not block them. For the duty to record attendance itself there is a page on Amendment 24 to the Wage Protection Law.

Worth knowing

The law allows other limits to be set for certain work, by regulations, by an approved collective agreement or by a permit (sections 4, 5, 11 and 12). It does not apply to some employees, for example those in management positions or positions that require a special degree of trust (section 30), and it does not take away a right an employee has under a law, a collective agreement or a contract (section 35).

This page explains the general rules and is not legal advice: for a question about a particular case, ask a payroll adviser or a lawyer.

Sources and review

Jurisdiction: Israel. Source: the Hours of Work and Rest Law, 5711-1951, in the Knesset's National Legislation Database, with the original text in Reshumot (Sefer HaChukkim 76, p. 204) and Amendment 8 in Reshumot (Sefer HaChukkim 1430, p. 167), in Hebrew. This page was reviewed against these texts on 4 October 2026.