Employees are entitled to compensation for working overtime and for working on rest days. This article reviews two exceptions to this rule.
In many organisations, there is a distinction between employees based on their position as management and whether they are in a position of trust. Employees in management positions and who hold a position of trust are excluded from the Work and Rest Hours Law 1951 with regard to their entitlement to overtime pay. Employees who perform the work outside the employee's premises are also excluded. Below are some clarifications on this issue.
Section 30 of the Work and Rest Hours Law excludes, among other things:
- employees in management positions or positions that require a special degree of personal trust; and
- employees whose working conditions and circumstances do not allow the employer to monitor their work and rest hours.
The ruling of the labour courts in Israel stated that the language of the Work and Rest Hours Law leaves the decision regarding its applicability in a particular case to the specific circumstances of the form of employment, so that in each specific case the characteristics of the job must be examined.
The labour courts also ruled that the trend is to interpret the exclusionary provisions in a limited manner. In their rulings, the labour courts detailed the criteria that must be considered when classifying a position in a specific case.
Positions that require special degree of personal trust
The position referred to in section 30 of the Hours of Work and Rest Law is for a very senior employee who is an integral part of the top management of the organisation. In this regard, it was determined that the designation of a particular position in the organisation will not serve as evidence that the position is a management role, and the determinant is the true nature and essence of the role. For example, high wages and special employment conditions do not constitute a reason for excluding the employee from the scope of the law.
Possibility of supervising working hours and rest
The law talks about the possibility of supervising the working and rest hours of employees of the organisation and not about the actual supervision, and the question that preoccupies the labour courts is whether the working conditions and employment circumstances of each employee allowed supervision of the working and rest hours on the part of the employer.
The labour courts have expressed their view that with the technological means that exist today, there are almost no employees whose work and rest hours cannot be supervised.
For further information on this topic please contact Yaniv Yampolsky at Efrat Deutsch & Co. by telephone (972-3-6096960) or email ([email protected]​). The Efrat Deutsch & Co.​ website can be accessed at www.edz-law.co.il