Ministry of Economy and Industry | Directorate General of Labor

LEGAL CHAPTER

New Judicial Rulings Pertaining to ForeignWorkers in theWorkplace

Several precedential and important rulings were issued during the past year pertaining to the world of content related to foreign workers. In some of these rulings, the Commissioner's Unit participated in the writing of the Attorney General's formal opinion submitted to the court, some of which bore significant influence on foreign workers' rights.

High Court of Justice Ruling No. 4382/21 – Israel Builders Association vs. the State of Israel

This ruling pertains to sums deducted by employers of Palestinian workers to a fund for paying their sick leave. The background to the petition was a 1970 government resolution that guarantees that the social conditions of Palestinian laborers working in Israel will comply with Israeli law. To implement this resolution, it was decided to create a specially designated fund that imitates the pension product provided to Israeli workers and to which every employer deducted 2.5 percent of a worker's salary for sick leave until 2018. In 2003, there was a major change in policy that led to the closure of the sick leave pay fund for new workers and employers. As a result, the collective agreement in the construction sector was updated so as to transfer the insurance obligation onto the employers. Despite this, the state continued collecting money for sick leave for Palestinian workers until 2018. A petition was consequently submitted to the High Court of Justice in 2016 by the Kav La'Oved – Worker's Hotline Association to ensure that this money would be used for the workers' benefit. 5 The petition was struck off in 2020 following the creation of an interdepartmental government team, including the Commissioner's Unit, chargedwith decidingwhat to dowith the proceeds of the fund that had accumulated to a total of 250million shekels. The Builders Association's petition was submitted in 2021 and claimed that the money had been deducted by the employers and should therefore be returned to them. This petition was also rejected as the interdepartmental team had yet to make decisions regarding the use of the money in the funds.

(National) Appeal Court Request 52980-11-20 Y.B. See Resources Ltd. vs TEAME FSAHAYE KIBROM

In this ruling, the National Labor Court rejected the employers' appeal and accepted the stance of the respondent and the Attorney General which the Commissioner's Unit helped formulate. The appeal related to employers of foreign workers in the cleaning sector who deducted a deposit of 16 percent from the salary of workers who infiltrated the border, as prescribed by law, but who did not make contributions to

5 High Court of Justice Case No. 5918/16 Kav La'Oved vs the State of Israel (Nevo, 21.12.2020).

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