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LawLabor Law

Youth Labour Law, 5713-1953

חוק עבודת הנוער, תשי"ג-1953

Published: 1953-07-23Consolidated Hebrew text as of 2024-06-05 · Last amended 2024-06-04✓ Amendment status checked against the Knesset legislation record on 2026-09-17
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Unofficial English translation — for reference only. It may contain errors or omissions and cannot be relied on as a legal text. Only the Hebrew text published in Reshumot is legally binding.More

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Despite these checks, it may contain errors, omissions, or imprecise renderings of legal terminology and cross-references, and it may not yet reflect the latest amendments. It cannot be relied upon as a legal text.

The Hebrew text as published in Reshumot (ספר החוקים) and on the Knesset website is the sole authoritative and legally binding version. In any discrepancy, the Hebrew text prevails.

This translation is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For use in legal proceedings, request a certified Expert Legal Opinion.

Chapter VI-A: Provisions regarding Permits

Permit for the Employment of a Youth§

27f.
(a)A permit for the employment of a youth under this Law (in this Chapter – a permit for the employment of a youth) shall not be granted if it is liable to harm the well-being of the youth.
(b)The Minister of Labour and Welfare, with the approval of the Labour and Welfare Committee of the Knesset, may prescribe, and in respect of section 4 shall prescribe, rules, conditions and limitations for the granting of a permit for the employment of a youth or for brokering the employment of a youth; rules, conditions and limitations as aforesaid may be prescribed generally or for certain categories of permits.
(c)A permit for the employment of a youth shall include the following:
(1)conditions to ensure that the youth is not exploited, that his health, safety, education or proper development is not harmed, and that he has adequate rest and leisure hours;
(2)conditions regarding working hours, breaks during work and also breaks between one working day and the next.
(d)The Minister of Labour and Welfare may prescribe additional conditions to those prescribed by him pursuant to subsection (b) or to those specified in subsection (c), in respect of a permit for the employment of a particular youth.

Hearing of the Youth§

27g.
(a)In the granting of a permit for the employment of a youth, a youth capable of forming his own opinion shall have the right to express his position regarding the granting of a permit for his employment, and his opinion shall be given appropriate weight in accordance with his age and level of maturity.
(b)The Minister of Labour and Welfare, with the approval of the Labour and Welfare Committee of the Knesset, shall make Regulations regarding the manner of exercising the right of the youth pursuant to this section.

Presentation of Identity Card§

27h.
(a)An employer shall not employ a youth unless the youth has presented to him his own identity card or the identity card of his parents, on which his particulars appear.
(b)An employer shall keep at the place where his business is conducted a copy of the identity card as referred to in subsection (a), during the period in which the youth is employed by him and for up to one year after the termination of his employment; at the end of the said period, the employer shall destroy the copy of the identity card.

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Chapter VII: Implementation and Penalties

28.§

(Repealed — תשע״ו)

Notice regarding Study Hours§

28a.
(a)Without derogating from the provisions of section 2(b1), a young person or a person who has attained the age of 18 years, to whom compulsory education applies, shall not be employed unless notice has been given to the employer by the educational institution at which the young person or the person who has attained the age of 18 years studies, regarding his study hours at that institution; the provisions of this subsection shall not apply to a person in respect of whom the provisions of paragraphs (1), (3) or (4) of section 2(b) apply.
(b)The Minister of Industry, Trade and Employment may, with the consent of the Minister of Education, prescribe provisions regarding notice as referred to in subsection (a), including with respect to the person at the educational institution who is authorised to give it, its particulars, its form, the manner of its delivery and its retention.

Powers of a Labour Inspector§

29.
(a)The powers of a labour inspector in relation to any place where the inspector has reasonable grounds to believe that a youth is employed shall be as the inspector's powers under section 2 of the Labour Inspection (Organisation) Law, 5714-1954.
(b)A labour inspector may interrogate any person found in a place to which a labour inspector has come by virtue of the inspector's powers under subsection (a), and also any youth whom a labour inspector has reasonable grounds to believe is working or hawking — the inspector may interrogate that person, that youth and the youth's parents on any matter relating to this Law, but no person shall be required to give an answer or testimony that may incriminate him. A labour inspector may record in a protocol the answers and statements of the person being interrogated.
(c)A protocol recorded in accordance with subsection (b) shall have the same status as a statement recorded in accordance with section 2 of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance (Evidence), and sections 3 and 4 of that Ordinance shall apply to it.

Order for the Prevention of a Violating Act§

29a.
(a)
(1)Where the Attorney General or the Attorney General's representative, or a senior labour inspector authorised for this purpose by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Employment, has reasonable grounds to believe that a person is committing or is about to commit, by act or omission, a violating act, the Attorney General, representative or senior labour inspector may apply to the Regional Labour Court for an order directing that person to refrain from the violating act or to take action to prevent it (in this section — an order for the prevention of a violating act);
(2)Where an indictment has been filed in respect of an offence under this Law, a prosecutor as defined in section 12 of the Criminal Procedure Law [Consolidated Version], 5742-1982, may apply for an order for the prevention of a violating act;
(3)In this section, "violating act" means an act contrary to the provisions under sections 2, 2a, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 14, 18(b), 20, 21, 22, 22a, 23, 24, 27e, 28a, 31, 32, 33d, 33d1.
(b)
(1)The Regional Labour Court may grant an order for the prevention of a violating act ex parte;
(2)Where an order has been granted ex parte, the hearing inter partes shall take place as soon as possible and no later than seven days from the date of the granting of the order, and the Regional Labour Court may extend the validity of the order for the prevention of a violating act, cancel it or amend it, even if the person in respect of whom the order was granted and who was lawfully summoned did not appear at the hearing.
(c)Where the Regional Labour Court is satisfied that the violating act or the circumstances of the matter involve a risk to the wellbeing or health of a youth, it may direct in the order for the prevention of a violating act that security be given for compliance with the order, in an amount and for a period that it shall determine.

Council for Matters of Working Youth§

30.
(a)A Council for Matters of Working Youth (hereinafter — the Council) shall be established, which shall advise the Minister of Labour on any matter relating to this Law.
(b)The Council shall be composed of representatives of the Government who shall be appointed by the Minister of Labour, of representatives of the General Employment Offices, and of public figures who shall be appointed by the Minister of Labour as representatives of workers, of working youth, of employers and also of public institutions which the Minister of Labour considers to be concerned. Representatives of workers shall be appointed after consultation with the national workers' organisation representing the greatest number of workers, and representatives of working youth shall be appointed after consultation with the national organisation representing the greatest number of working youth, and with other organisations of working youth as decided by the Minister of Labour, and representatives of employers shall be appointed after consultation with representative national employers' organisations which the Minister of Labour considers to be concerned.
(c)The number of members of the Council by category shall be determined by the Minister of Labour by notice published in Reshumot (Official Gazette), provided that the number of representatives of workers and working youth together shall equal the number of representatives of employers.
(d)The Minister of Labour, and in the Minister's absence a person appointed by the Minister for that purpose, shall be the chairperson of the Council.
(e)The Council shall determine its own procedures and rules of work to the extent that they have not been prescribed in Regulations.

Committees of the Council§

30a.

The Council may appoint, from among its members or from outside its members, committees, and may delegate to them its powers, except the power to advise the Minister on any matter relating to the making of Regulations as referred to in section 42.

Registration of Working Youths§

31.
(a)An employer is required to maintain a register in which shall be recorded, in relation to each youth employed by the employer, the particulars to be prescribed in Regulations.
(b)The Minister of Labour shall prescribe, by notice published in Reshumot (Official Gazette), the categories of employers to whom this section applies, and may prescribe accordingly that the register shall form part of another register that an employer is required to maintain under a law whose implementation the Minister of Labour is responsible for.

Duty of Notification§

32.
(a)An employer shall bring to the knowledge of a youth employed by the employer the provisions of this Law.
(b)The Minister of Labour and Welfare may prescribe methods for notifying a youth in accordance with the provisions of this section.

Endangering Employment§

33.
(a)One who employs a youth in any of the following —
(1)contrary to the provisions of sections 2(a), (b) and (c), 2a or 4, or contrary to the provisions of a permit granted by virtue thereof;
(2)in a place that the Minister of Labour and Welfare has determined, in accordance with the provisions of section 5, that work by a youth therein is liable to endanger the youth;
(3)in work, production processes or workplaces in which the Minister of Labour and Welfare has prohibited or restricted the employment of a youth, in accordance with the provisions of section 6;
(4)in work which, pursuant to what is prescribed in Regulations under section 7, the youth may not be employed in at the youth's age;
(5)contrary to the provisions of section 14,

is liable — to one year's imprisonment or a fine of one and a half times the fine prescribed in section 61(a)(2) of the Penal Law, 5737-1977 (hereinafter — the Penal Law).

(b)One who employs a young person or a person who has attained the age of 18 years upon whom compulsory education applies, contrary to the provisions of section 2(b1), is liable — to one year's imprisonment or a fine of one and a half times the fine prescribed in section 61(a)(2) of the Penal Law.

Other Prohibited Employment§

33a.
(1)contrary to the provisions of sections 11 or 12, or contrary to the provisions of a permit granted under section 11a, relating to medical examinations;
(2)contrary to the provisions of sections 20, 21, 22, 22a and 24, or contrary to the provisions of a permit granted under section 25, relating to working hours and rest;
(3)contrary to the provisions of a permit granted under this Law other than under sections 2, 2a, or 4, including provisions relating to the determination of a maximum number of working hours, weekly rest, breaks during work or night work,

is liable — to six months' imprisonment or a fine as referred to in section 61(a)(2) of the Penal Law.

Employment of an Adult§

33b.

One who employs a person who has attained the age of 18 years and has not yet attained the age of 21 years, in work that the Minister of Labour and Welfare has determined, under section 16, to involve a special health risk, contrary to the provisions of Chapter III: Medical Examinations, or contrary to the provisions of Chapter VI: Obligation of a School Day, is liable — as one who employs a youth under sections 33 or 33a, as the case may be.

Additional Offences§

33c.
(a)One who employs a youth in any of the following —
(1)in work prescribed under section 18, without having ascertained that the youth was previously given vocational guidance, as referred to in that section;
(2)contrary to the provisions of section 23, except subsection (b) thereof, relating to a youth attending evening classes;
(3)without having presented a special permit for night work in accordance with the provisions of section 26(d);
(4)contrary to the provisions of section 27e(a), relating to a youth upon whom a duty of studies applies;
(5)(deleted)
(6)without having maintained a register in accordance with the provisions under section 31;
(7)without having brought to the knowledge of the youth the provisions of this Law in accordance with the duty under section 32,

is liable — to a fine as referred to in section 61(a)(1) of the Penal Law.

(a1)One who employs a young person or a person who has attained the age of 18 years upon whom compulsory education applies, without having been given notice as referred to in section 28a or without having retained the notice in accordance with the provisions of section 28a(b), is liable — to a fine as referred to in section 61(a)(1) of the Penal Law.
(b)An employer who deducts from the wages of a youth, on account of absence for the purpose of studies, contrary to the provisions of sections 23(b) or 27e(b), is liable — to a fine as referred to in subsection (a).
(c)An employer who employed a young person after 23:00 and did not return the young person to the young person's home at the end of the young person's work, contrary to the provisions of section 24(d)(2), is liable — to a fine as referred to in subsection (a).

Prohibited Acts in respect of Performances and Photography§

33d.
(a)One who acts as an intermediary, without a permit, for the employment of a child in a performance or photography as referred to in section 4, or who acts as an intermediary for the employment of a child contrary to the provisions of a permit granted under the provisions of section 4, is liable — as one who employs a child contrary to the provisions of that section.
(b)One who commissions a performance or photography within the meaning of section 4 in which a child is to work is required to make the employment of the child in the performance or photography commissioned conditional upon obtaining a permit under the provisions of that section; where the person commissioning has breached this duty and a child has been employed without a permit in a performance or photography commissioned by that person, the person is liable — to half the penalty prescribed for one who employs a child contrary to the provisions of section 4.
(c)In this section, "child" means a person who has not yet attained the age of 15 years.

Prohibition of Acting as Intermediary for Employment and Employment in an Advertising Performance§

33d1.

One who acts as an intermediary for the employment of, or who employs, a youth who has attained the age of 15 years and has not yet attained the age of 18 years in an advertising performance, including conducting an interview and stage auditions for admission to employment, without the consent of the youth and the youth's parent, contrary to the provisions of section 4a, is liable — to a fine as referred to in section 61(a)(2) of the Penal Law.

Liability of a Corporation§

33e.

Where an offence under sections 33, 33a, 33b, 33c, 33d or 33d1 has been committed by a corporation, it is liable — to double the fine prescribed for that offence.

Strict Liability§

33f.

An offence under sections 33, 33a, 33b, 33c, 33d, 33d1, 33e and 38a(c) is a strict liability offence.

Continuing Offence§

33g.

A court may, in addition to any penalty prescribed for an offence under this Law that is a continuing offence, impose on the convicted person a fine as referred to in section 61(c) of the Penal Law for each day on which the offence continues.

Obstruction of a Labour Inspector§

33h.

One who obstructs a labour inspector from exercising the inspector's powers under this Law is liable — to one year's imprisonment or a fine of one and a half times the fine prescribed in section 61(a)(2) of the Penal Law.

Youth Employed by Different Employers§

34.

One who employs a youth knowing that the youth is also employed by another employer — the person who employed the youth on those hours that on that day or that week exceeded eight hours per day or forty hours per week shall be regarded as the employer of the youth for all the hours, unless that person did not know and could not have known the number of hours for which the youth had already been employed by another employer.

35.§

(Repealed — תשנ״ח)

36.§

(Repealed — תש״ך)

Duty of Parents§

37.
(a)A parent of a youth is required to supervise and to do everything possible to prevent the employment of the youth contrary to the provisions of section 33; one who breaches this duty is liable — to half the fine prescribed for one who employs a youth contrary to those provisions.
(b)Where a youth has been employed contrary to a provision of section 33, it shall be presumed that the parent of the youth has breached the duty referred to in subsection (a), unless the parent has proved that the parent acted without criminal intent and without negligence, and did everything possible to fulfil the duty.

Duty of Supervision§

38.
(a)An office holder in a corporation is required to supervise and to do everything possible to prevent offences as referred to in sections 33, 33a, 33b, 33c, 33d and 33d1 by the corporation or by any of its employees; one who breaches this duty is liable — to a fine of one and a half times the fine prescribed in section 61(a)(2) of the Penal Law; for the purposes of this section, "office holder" means an active director in a corporation, a partner, except a limited partner, and an officer responsible on behalf of the corporation for the area in which the offence was committed.
(b)Where an offence under sections 33, 33a, 33b, 33c, 33d and 33d1 has been committed by a corporation, it shall be presumed that an office holder has breached the duty referred to in this section, unless the office holder has proved that the office holder acted without criminal intent and without negligence, and did everything possible to fulfil the duty.

Duties of Supervision in a Public Authority§

38a.
(a)In this section —

"head of a public authority" means the director-general, and in the absence of a director-general — the holder of an equivalent position in the public authority, and in the absence of both — the head of the authority; and for the purposes of a local authority — the head of the local authority;

"public authority" means a body from among the bodies listed in the First Schedule, however for the purposes of item (9) of the First Schedule — the Minister of Labour and Welfare may by Order exempt a company as referred to in that item from the duties referred to in this section, in whole or in part.

(b)The head of a public authority is required to do all of the following in order to prevent the employment of a youth contrary to the provisions of sections 33 and 33a by a contractor carrying out work or providing services pursuant to an order of the public authority (in this section — the executing contractor):
(1)to appoint, from among the employees of the public authority, a person responsible on the head's behalf, whose function is to report to the head of the authority on any breach of a provision of sections 33 and 33a by an executing contractor (in this section — the responsible person);
(2)to include in the contract between the public authority and the executing contractor a clause setting out the provisions of sections 33 and 33a and stipulating that a breach of those provisions of the Law also constitutes a breach of the contract between the parties;
(3)to report immediately to the Labour Law Enforcement Division of the Ministry of Labour and Welfare on any breach of a provision of sections 33 or 33a by the executing contractor of which the responsible person has notified the head;
(4)to demand of the executing contractor to cease immediately any breach of a provision of sections 33 or 33a of which the responsible person has notified the head.
(c)The following are liable to half the fine prescribed in section 33:
(1)the head of a public authority who breaches a duty from among the duties listed in subsection (b);
(2)a responsible person who does not report to the head of the authority a breach of a provision of sections 33 or 33a by an executing contractor.
(d)The head of a public authority is required to report immediately to the Labour Law Enforcement Division of the Ministry of Labour and Welfare on a breach of a provision of sections 33 or 33a by an executing contractor, and to demand of the executing contractor to cease the breach immediately, even if the breach was not reported to the head by the responsible person but became known to the head by other means; one who contravenes the provisions of this section is liable — to half the fine prescribed in section 33.

Evidence§

39.
(a)An extract from the register in the Population Register pursuant to the Population Registry Ordinance, 5709-1949, concerning a person's age, or a certificate of the Registration Office attesting that pursuant to the said Ordinance a notification was given to the Registration Office that a person was born on a particular date – shall serve as evidence of a person's age in any claim under this Law, unless it is proved by a birth certificate that the person was born on a different date.
(b)Where a youth is found in a place where work is being performed or machines are operating, the youth shall be regarded as employed in that place and at that time, unless the contrary is proved.

Fees§

40.

The Minister of Labour and Welfare may, with the approval of the Labour and Welfare Committee of the Knesset, prescribe fees to be paid for applications for permits under this Law and for the grant of such permits.

Payment of Wages§

40a.

The employment of a youth in contravention of the provisions of this Law does not exempt the employer from paying wages or any other payment to which the youth is entitled for his work, by reason of his work, and under any law.

The State as Employer§

41.

For the purposes of this Law, a youth employed by the State shall be treated in the same manner as a youth employed by any other employer.

Implementation and Regulations§

42.
(a)The Minister of Labour is responsible for the implementation of this Law and may make Regulations on any matter relating to its implementation.
(b)The Minister of Labour shall not make Regulations, except for Regulations pursuant to sections 10, 31 and 32, save after consultation with the Council for the Affairs of Working Youth established pursuant to section 30.

Transfer of Powers§

43.
(a)The Minister of Labour may transfer to another person his powers under sections 3, 4 and 25, except for the power to grant a general permit under section 25(a) or (b).
(b)Notice of the transfer of powers shall be published in Reshumot (Official Gazette).

Independence of Law§

44.

The Work and Rest Hours Law, 5711-1951 – shall not apply to the employment of a youth.

Repeal§

45.

The Employment of Children and Young Persons Ordinance, 1954, and the Regulations made thereunder – are hereby repealed.

Commencement§

46.

This Law shall come into force upon the expiry of six months after it is passed by the Knesset.

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