Ministry of Economy and Industry | Directorate General of Labor

ANNUAL SUMMARY REPORT 2021

their workers' pension funds despite being obligated to do so according to the collective agreement and Extension Order in this sector. The court ruled, in accordance with the stance of the Attorney General, that "the employers' payments to the deposit account for workers who infiltrated the border are not a substitute for, or in lieu of, the payments they are obligated to make to the various funds but rather, stand exclusively on their own" . The ruling was aimed at balancing the purpose of the deposit to provide a financial incentive for foreign workers to leave Israel with the discrimination of these workers in relation to Israeli workers and the safeguarding of the social rights to which they are entitled. The National Court's ruling was appealed in the Supreme Court, an appeal that was rejected by Judge Barak-Erez who wrote that: "In these circumstances, and after having studied the comprehensive ruling given by the National Labor Court, following an in-depth and thorough procedure, we are of the opinion that it was without fault". It should be noted that the Unit composed a formal opinion for this case whereby a Keren Hishtalmut (a 6-year savings fund), that is not included in the definition of a pension-paying provident fund, is part of the sum that an employer is obligated to transfer to the deposit fund.

(Tel Aviv) Order 55176-12-18 Dalal Ram Cleaning and Maintenance Services Ltd. vs Meitav Dash Gemel and Pension Ltd.

In this case, cleaning companies from the pension savings sector submitted a claim for restoration of the sums they had deposited into foreign workers' pension funds after it was discovered that the workers forged their identities. The court ruled that this money belongs to the foreign workers and that returning it to the employers is contrary to "The Unjust Enrichment Law". It added that the fact that the identity of the workers who forged their identities is unknown, does not justify digressing from the legal provisions and regulations that obligate the pension funds. The court left the obligation of locating the workers to the cleaning companies instead of transferring it to the pension funds because they are in a better position to collaborate with the police in locating them. Finally, the court ruled that if the workers are not located within a year, the money will be transferred to the Administrator General.

LaborDispute (Tel Aviv) 27041-09-20OlhaTakhnenkovsD.K.AHotels Ltd.

This ruling was in response to a claim submitted by a Ukrainian citizen who entered Israel as a tourist and began working in 2017 for the defendant in the hotel industry. The plaintiff was injured in a traffic accident and was unable to work for two months during 2019. Immediately after returning to work, she was dismissed, and is now suing for restoration of money deducted from her salary for accommodation that exceeded the legally permitted deduction, and for payment of sums that her employer was legally obligated to transfer to her pension fund. The court ruled in the worker's favor and, in the issue of irregular deductions for accommodation, ruled that the employer had made deductions for additional accommodation services,

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