The Ministry of Health’s recent guidelines have created, inter alia, uncertainty and instability in the labor market. Organizations are dealing with a shortage of manpower, either because of the quarantine obligation or in light of new guidelines limiting the number of employees in workplaces. Simultaneously, they have had to contend with the well-known limitation on overtime.
On March 18, 2020, the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Social Services published new regulations permitting employers to engage overtime workers at a larger scope, significantly in excess of what has been permissible to date. This provides a solution, even if partially, to the lack of manpower.
From now on:
- An employer may employ an employee for a 67-hour work week, including overtime.
- The additional hours’ quota for a given month shall not exceed 90 additional hours.
- The length of the working day may not exceed 12 hours. However, an employee can be employed for 14 hours a day, including overtime, no more than eight times a month.
- Employment will be carried out taking into consideration the unique needs of the workplace and the employees due to the spread of the coronavirus.
The order is valid for two months as of March 17, 2020, or for the term of the Public Health Order (Novel Coronavirus) (Home Isolation and Various Provisions) (Temporary Order), 2020, whichever comes first.
