Expansion of Night Shift Work Arrangements to Include Single Parents

An amendment to the Employment of Women Law, which went into effect on March 14, 2022, expands night shift work arrangements to include single parents.

Any employee or candidate for employment who is a single parent (as defined in the Single Parent Family Law) may refuse to work night shifts under particular circumstances. The law thus expands arrangements for night shift work, which, up until now, applied solely to female employees (regardless of whether or not they are mothers).

In light of the amendment, employers may not refuse to hire women or single parents simply because they do not agree to work night shifts due to family considerations. The law prescribes several exceptions, including work at medical and nursing care institutions, childcare institutions, newspapers, restaurants, and hotels, as well as for managerial positions.

Single parents and women may also refuse to work night shifts if in the past the workplace did not operate with night shifts and is only now expanding its activities to include night shifts. In such an instance, an employee must issue a written notice of refusal to work night shifts within three days of the demand for night shift work.

The law defines night shift work for women differently than night shift work for single parents. For women, a night shift is an 11-hour period of time that includes the hours between midnight and 06:00 the following morning (and in agriculture, from midnight until 05:00 the following morning). For single parents, a night shift is work between midnight and 07:30 the following morning.

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Our Employment department is at your disposal should you have any questions in this regard.