## Facts

- A furniture retailer operated seven days a week, including Saturday, employing Jewish workers on the statutory weekly rest day.
- An administrative fine was imposed for employing Jewish workers during the weekly rest period in violation of the Hours of Work and Rest Law, 5711–1951.
- After the fine, the company sought a statutory permit to employ Jewish workers on Sabbaths and holidays; the responsible official denied the request for failing to meet the permit criteria in § 12.
- Criminal proceedings were initiated in a regional labor court for Sabbath-work offenses; a request to stay the proceedings was denied.
- The company and employees petitioned for judicial review seeking (1) invalidation of the Sabbath employment prohibitions as unconstitutional under Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation, and (2) reversal of the permit denial as unlawful and extremely unreasonable.

## Issues

1. Whether prohibiting employment of Jewish workers on the Sabbath infringes freedom of occupation protected by Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation.
2. If it infringes, whether the prohibition is justified under the limitation clause (compatibility with the state’s values, proper purpose, and proportionality).
3. Whether denial of a Sabbath-work permit under § 12 was unlawful, including whether it was extremely unreasonable given the asserted business and employee interests.

## Decision

- The court held that the Sabbath employment prohibition infringes freedom of occupation because restricting the time a business may operate or employ workers limits occupational freedom.
- The court upheld the prohibition as constitutional under the limitation clause because it:
  - Befits the values of the state as Jewish and democratic,
  - Serves proper purposes combining social-welfare labor protection and the collective Jewish day of rest, and
  - Is proportionate, given the availability of six working days, limited permit exceptions, and other lawful operational options.
- The court upheld the permit refusal because the petitioners failed to provide a factual basis showing that operating furniture stores on the Sabbath was essential for the public or part of it, as required for a § 12 permit.
- The petition was denied in full.

## Legal Principles

- Restrictions on the days or hours a business may operate or employ workers can constitute an infringement of freedom of occupation.
- A pre-existing statute may be reviewed for constitutionality under Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation when the Basic Law applies to earlier legislation.
- An infringement of freedom of occupation may be upheld if it satisfies the limitation clause: consistency with the state’s values, a proper purpose, and proportionality.
- Mandatory weekly rest protections may be justified on social grounds (preventing exploitation and securing genuine rest) and, for Jewish workers, on religious-national grounds (preserving a shared Sabbath rest day).
- Agency decisions denying Sabbath-work permits will be sustained where statutory criteria require “essential” public need and the applicant fails to establish supporting facts; economic loss and employee willingness to work are insufficient without meeting the statutory standard.

## Conclusion

The court sustained both the statutory scheme making Saturday the weekly rest day for Jewish workers and the administrative denial of a Sabbath-work permit, holding that the resulting infringement of occupational freedom was justified and that the petitioners did not prove entitlement to a statutory exception.


Design 22–Shark Deluxe Furniture, Ltd. v. Rozenzweig, HCJ 5026/04, 60(1) PD 38 (Isr. 2005)