Lawmaker proposes once-a-month vacation Sundays

Israelis could get the two-day weekend enjoyed by most of the world at least on a part-time basis if a new plan to allow employees to take one Sunday off a month gains traction in the Knesset.

Kulanu party MK Eli Cohen, who proposed the bill, says giving the workforce one Sunday off each month will allow workers to spend more time with their families, Channel 2 reported on Wednesday.

“This issue has a significant effect on the quality of life of each and every one of us,” Cohen said. “It will be possible to spend time with the family, to reduce workers’ burnout, and to increase the consumption of culture and sports by the public, in particular the religious and traditional population.”

Israel currently has a Friday-afternoon-to-Saturday weekend that is based on the Jewish Sabbath and Muslim Friday prayers. Many Israelis do not work Fridays.

But for religiously committed Jews, the Sabbath is a time when they cannot drive and are prevented by their religious observance from visiting most entertainment venues.

Under Cohen’s plan workers would be given an extra 12 days of vacation per year in return for working an extra 15-20 minutes a day.

The plan has also been presented to industrialists and the Histadrut Labor Federation — the national trade union umbrella, which has objected to a longer weekend in the past.

“These days, the industrialists and the Histadrut are prepared to advance the plan,” Cohen said. “There are small differences that we need to resolve so that already by 2017 we can start the once-a-month short work week.”

A key issue will be whether the education system buys into the idea, the report said.

In 2014, then-energy minister Silvan Shalom proposed instituting a Saturdy-Sunday weekend in Israel, drawing support from, among others, then-justice minister Tzipi Livni.

The idea had been kicked around for many years in the Knesset before Shalom started to spearhead a campaign in 2011. Economists differ on the merits of making Sunday part of the weekend, while taking half of Friday off in preparation for the Sabbath.

Those in favor argue that synchronizing Israel’s workweek with that of most of the world and having an extra day where all sectors of society can enjoy leisure activities would be good for the economy.

Those against the move say that the Friday-Saturday weekend is the most economically effective model, as observant Muslims and Jews are likely to work less efficiently on Fridays. According to critics of the plan, adding the missing Sunday work hours to the remaining workdays would lower productivity, as studies have shown that productivity diminishes during later hours of a workday.