Breaks are one of the biggest sources of payslip disputes — sometimes they're deducted, sometimes not, and sometimes by the wrong amount. The confusion comes from mixing up two different questions: how much break you must give the employee, and how much time you may deduct from the hours actually worked. This page separates the two.

What the law says — Section 20 of the Hours of Work and Rest Law

Section 20 of the Hours of Work and Rest Law, 1951, sets out the duty to give a break. The basic rule is:

• Manual workers — on a workday of 6 hours or more are entitled to a break of at least 45 minutes, which must include one continuous break of at least 30 minutes.
• Non-manual workers (office staff and the like) — the entitlement starts when the workday exceeds 9 hours in a five-day work week, or 8 hours in a six-day work week.
• Shabbat eve and holiday eve — the break is at least 30 minutes.
• Cap — the break may not exceed 3 hours.

This is the point most employers miss: the law doesn't scale the break by the length of the day alone — it first distinguishes by type of work. The same seven-hour day creates a break duty for a manual worker and doesn't create one for an office worker on a five-day week. A single formula applied to all employees without that distinction will be wrong for one of the two groups — and usually for both.

When the break is paid and when it isn't

As a rule, a rest and meal break doesn't count as working hours and isn't paid. But there is one major exception, and it's the one behind most claims:

• If the employee must stay at the workplace during the break — because the nature of the work requires their presence — the break counts as working time in every respect and must be paid.
• If the employee was available and handled requests during the break — say, a receptionist eating next to the phone, or a production worker called back to the line — the break didn't really happen, and deducting it is a problem.

The law also states explicitly that during a break of half an hour or more the employee may leave the workplace, unless their presence is required by the nature of the work. That freedom of movement is the practical test: if the employee wasn't truly free, it's hard to argue there was a break at all.

Prayer breaks

On top of the rest and meal break, the law recognizes an employee's right to a prayer break according to the requirements of their religion, during the workday and in line with the needs of the work. This is a separate right, not part of the 45-minute allowance.

The mistakes we keep seeing

When breaks are calculated by hand in an Excel sheet, these are the patterns that come up in almost every payroll audit:

• A blanket deduction for everyone. One formula that takes 30 or 45 minutes off every workday for every employee, without distinguishing manual from non-manual workers. An office worker on a seven-hour day in a five-day week never reaches the entitlement threshold — so an automatic deduction for them has no basis.
• Deducting a break that wasn't taken. The employee worked straight through, but the formula doesn't know that and deducts anyway. This is the biggest risk — deducting time the employee actually worked can be treated as delayed payment of wages.
• Checking the threshold by the clock, not by hours worked. A manual worker clocked 08:00–14:05 crossed the six-hour threshold; one clocked 08:00–13:55 didn't. Ten minutes change the obligation, and with a manual sheet no one checks that day by day.
• Forgetting Shabbat and holiday eves. These days follow a different rule, and most manual sheets don't tell them apart from a regular day.
• Double deduction. A break deducted by hand and also by the system, usually after switching tools or changing a formula.

Why a wrong deduction is a risk, not just an inaccuracy

Under Amendment 24 to the Wage Protection Law, an employer must keep an accurate record of working hours. An employer who doesn't meet this duty bears the burden of proof in a dispute over working hours — meaning the employer has to prove the employee didn't work the hours they claim, not the other way around.

The practical meaning is simple: when the record is an Excel sheet someone filled in after the fact, the employer's defense is weak. When the record is real-time clock-ins and clock-outs with every change logged, the picture is reversed. Break gaps of 30 minutes a day add up to about 10 hours a month per employee — and, calculated retroactively over several years, to significant sums.

What to do now

• Check exactly what is being deducted today — a break that was actually recorded, or a fixed number in a formula.
• Classify your employees: who is a manual worker and who isn't. Without that distinction you can't know when the break duty applies at all.
• Make sure Shabbat and holiday eves are handled separately, and that days below that employee's relevant threshold carry no deduction.
• For roles where the employee stays on site — check whether the break can be deducted at all.
• Make sure hours are recorded in real time, not filled in after the fact at month end. If you still record by hand, you can start with a printable timesheet.

Summary

Deducting breaks correctly isn't just about accuracy — it's also about trust between employer and employee, and about being able to defend the calculation if questions come up. An automatic, consistent and logged calculation saves time and prevents needless disputes at month end.

The full picture — who the law covers, breaks, weekly rest, night work, record-keeping and enforcement — is in our guide Israel’s Hours of Work and Rest Law: what every employer must know.

The information in this article is general, reflects the basic rules of the Hours of Work and Rest Law and is not legal advice. Collective agreements, industry extension orders and personal agreements may set different, sometimes more favorable, arrangements. For any specific question, we recommend consulting a lawyer who specializes in labor law.