Snowy weather, as in other bad weather occurrences, are not explicitly dealt with in Israeli labor laws.
Employees who are absent from work are not entitled to pay, unless the absence is due to vacation, sick days, reserve army duty, doctor-supervised pregnancy or any other instance covered by law, collective agreement, general expansion order or employment contract.
According to a labor court ruling, an employee is eligible to receive pay when not actually working when he is at the employer’s disposal and willing to work, but the employer does not give him tasks.
However, the above do not really fit the description. The employee wants to work, but it is not the employer who is withholding work from the employee, but rather cause of nature.
Aside from the public sector in Israel, who have an explicit clause in their collective work agreements that provides a 50% split between the employer and the employee, by paying a half day for each full day missed due to weather, the public sector employee is left to fight his own battles. Since most private sector employers do not have worker’s unions or collective bargaining agreements, it is left to the employer’s good will and wishes, there is no obligation.
Some employers may choose to pay for these absent days as vacation, which is better than not getting paid. Employers should note that if the snow days are 7 consecutive calendar days or more, they need to give advance notice of at least 14 days to employees prior to vacation day deduction.
Recently, the Minister of Economy recommended that private sector employers adopt the norm from the public sector employers; split the cost 50%-50% between the employees and the employers, although there is no legal binding to do so.
The same applies to taxi fares when public transportation is unavailable, (i.e. there is no law or provision that makes reimbursement mandatory). Employees should check with their employer before they take a taxi, as to whether they will be reimbursed for the cost.
