Ministry of Economy and Industry | Directorate General of Labor

ANNUAL SUMMARY REPORT 2021

Participation in Knesset Committees

With the formation of the government in 2021, the Special Committee on Foreign Workers led by MK Ibtisam Mara'ana resumed its activity. The Commissioner's Unit is an active participant in the committee, presenting its views and highlighting the complexities that exist in the field from the viewpoint of workers' rights. Following a discussion on sexual harassment, the Commissioner published a letter to workers and employers in the agriculture sector clarifying the regulations pertaining to separate accommodation for men and women and initiated the convening of an interdepartmental team to examine and contend with the phenomenon of sexual harassment in the fields of agriculture and caregiving. In addition to the Foreign Workers Committee, the Unit participated in several other committees, such as the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, the Labor and Welfare Committee, and the Economic Affairs Committee. The Unit's representatives presented each of these committees with the Commissioner's view of the issue under discussion and its influence on foreign workers' rights. For example, in a discussion of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee held on October 26 entitled "Proposed Administrative Offenses Ordinances (Administrative Fine – Limiting the Use of Cash)-2021", the Commissioner presented the ministry's viewwhereby the law, the goal of which was to reduce the use of cash, may harmworkers earning low wages, a category to which most foreign workers belong. As part of the Commissioner Unit's public explanatory activity, the Commissioner is attentive to the needs and difficulties of the foreign workers and their employers. Therefore, during the year, the Commissioner's Unit published several letters and rights booklets on various subjects in which a need to concentrate and increase access to relevant information had been identified. These publications were intended to assist both the workers and their employers in exercising their rights and meeting their obligations. The letters concentrated information on specific topics and referred readers to further information sources, forms, and ways to communicate with relevant entities. 1. A letter to the employer of a foreign caregiver – 2021: this letter details the entire procedure involved in employing a foreign caregiver and explains the work conditions that foreign caregivers are entitled to. The letter is republished each year according to changes in sums deducted from workers' wages. 2. A letter on parallel employment with a caregiving company: the letter explains the way in which the patient's share of the caregiver's wage is to be calculated with caregiving companies, thereby safeguarding the rights of foreign workers employed in home caregiving. 3. A letter about the sick leave of a foreign worker employed in home caregiving: this letter details the scope of sick leave and the proper accommodation to which a foreign worker employed in caregiving is entitled. Publications

25