Ministry of Economy and Industry | Directorate General of Labor

Public Explanatory Activity

Conferences and Seminars

A Round Table Seminar at the Ruppin Academic Center

The Commissioner's Unit, in conjunction with the Institute for Immigration and Social Integration at the Ruppin Academic Center, organized a round table seminar that was held in July 2021. Among the seminar's participants were government entities, representatives from NGOs, employers, and academics – a total of 39 people from 22 different entities. The seminar participants discussed two issues identified as the most significant and influential of all the queries submitted by foreign workers: "Social Mobility and Isolation" and "Uncertainty and Access to Information" in the caregiving and agriculture sectors. The seminar had several primary goals: to map the terms of employment and primary challenges in the agriculture and caregiving sectors; to initiate a process to formulate a position paper, including a solution for challenges on the ground, recommendations for change and practical methods for action and implementation; to create an infrastructure for a joint forum that includes all the relevant parties of interest – government departments, nonprofit organizations, academia, and workers' representatives. The discussion took place at four round tables addressing the caregiving and agriculture sectors and the two issues mentioned above. At the end of the seminar, each table presented the problems and challenges they found and proposed alternative optimal solutions. Among the proposals raised for the caregiving sector were: a letter of recommendation to advance policy that focuses on daycare centers for the elderly, with an emphasis on their significance and advantages for the welfare of foreign workers employed in caregiving; composing a written guide for the caregivers, the patients, and their families, including a description of the caregiver's role and detailed information about the extent and limitations of caregiving; explanations about the use and advantages of translated pay slips; promoting the calculation of job percentages on the pay slip for National Insurance purposes, and developing an app to help exercise rights.

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