Ministry of Economy and Industry | Directorate General of Labor

Agriculture Trainees

The Agriculture Trainees Program is a program run by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that brings agriculture students from foreign countries to Israel for ongoing trainee courses. The program's goal is to provide these students both with academic knowledge in agriculture and practical experience with work with farmers around Israel. The students working with the farmers are eligible for social rights like any other worker in Israel and are considered foreign workers. As a result, the Commissioner for Foreign Workers' Rights is also responsible for the labor rights of these agriculture trainees.

Regulations

Following Government Resolution No. 621 from 6.1.20, it was decided to authorize the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to compose regulations that formalize government handling of the Trainees Program. An interdepartmental teamwas formed for this purpose of which the Commissioner's Unit for ForeignWorkers was part. The regulations emphasized the labor rights of the agriculture trainees and stipulated how the education centers will be determined and the relevant control procedure. Furthermore, the regulations emphasize that the process of selecting the trainees coming to Israel will aim to prevent brokers' fees or other deductions from the trainees. Finally, the regulations stipulate that the education centers will also be obligated to ensure conditions that guarantee the trainees' living conditions, rights, and wages that apply in addition to the Israeli labor laws, and the manner for informing the trainees of these rights etc. To inform the students traveling to Israel of their social rights, the Commissioner's Unit published a rights booklet in Hebrew and English. The booklet contains information about the rights the students are entitled to and explanations on themethod and level of payment, the permitted deductions from the trainee's salary; rest times and rest days, sick leave, medical insurance, travel allowance, suitable accommodation; sexual harassment and payments upon completion of employment. Also included in the rights booklet is a detailed explanation of how to read and understand a pay slip to ensure that a salary has been paid in full, and full contact details of the Commissioner's Unit for clarifying information or submitting a complaint. The rights booklet is printed and distributed to the trainees prior to their arrival in Israel, together with a kit provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Commissioner's Unit conducted two tours during the past year together with the Foreign Trainees in Agriculture Administration. The goal of the tours was to talk with the trainees in order to hear about their difficulties, and to see whether their living conditions meet the standard determined by law for suitable accommodation. A first tour was conducted in October at the international trainees' center in the Arava where the Commissioner's team and the Foreign Trainees Administration met with the center's administration and some of the professional staff. The Commissioner's team heard from them about the content taught as part of the studies in the trainees' program. They then met with farmers who employ trainees and heard of the program's advantages and disadvantages from their viewpoint. A second tour was conducted in December with two farmers in the Bet Shean region during which the Commissioner's Agriculture Trainees Rights Booklet Visits to Agricultural Farms that Employ Agriculture Trainees

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