Q: I work in a place where they encourage employees to work as many shifts as possible. Sometimes employees work 30 days a month, including Friday and Motzei Shabbat. Is this legal ? Aren’t employees entitled to a day off per week ? My boss says only religious employees get off on Shabbat. thanks, Yosef
A: Yosef, being religious or not is totally irrelevant. All employees are entitled to a weekly rest day(for Jews this is Shabbat.) They must receive at least 36 consecutive hours off between the last day of work prior to the weekly rest day and the first work day afterwards. This means if you work Friday, you cannot legally work on Motzei Shabbat.
If someone works on their weekly rest day they are entitled to 150% for all regular hours and any overtime would be paid 175% for the first two hours and 200% for any additional hours. But that’s not all ! They also need to receive an alternative day off the following week to make up for it.
This is a serious violation of the labor laws, which are mandatory for all employers in Israel and can lead to serious fines of up to 35,000 shekels for the employer and the CEO personally for each offense.
