Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Israel (Ratification: 1965)

The Committee notes the communication, received 25 July 2011, from the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) on behalf of the Philippines National Union of Workers in Hotel, Restaurant and Allied Industries (NUWHRAIN) and the Government’s reply thereto received 12 September 2011.

Application of the principle to caregivers. The Committee refers to its previous observation on the Migration for Employment Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 97), in which it had noted IUF’s concerns regarding the possible discriminatory impact of the decision of the High Court of Justice in Yolanda Gloten v. the National Labour Court (HCJ 1678/07) of 29 November 2009, excluding the application of the Hours of Work and Rest Law 1951, including provisions on overtime pay, to a foreign women worker providing care on a live-in basis. In this observation, the Committee also noted the Hours of Work and Rest Law 1951 (sections 30(A)(5) and (6)) as well as the Government’s reply that the exceptions set out in the Hours of Work and Rest Law on which the High Court of Justice was relying, apply to all caregivers, whether local or foreign workers. It had also noted that 54,000 foreign workers were employed in care giving, eighty per cent of whom were women, and that few Israeli workers were willing to provide care on a live-in basis. The Committee notes from the Government’s most recent report on Convention No. 97 that there are more female Israeli care workers than foreign care workers in the long-term nursing sector (63,000), but these are mostly employed in part-time jobs through nursing care companies. The Government further indicates that following the High Court’s acknowledgement of the need for an appropriate clear legislative framework guaranteeing adequate pay and favourable working conditions, a governmental staff committee was set up to submit recommendations to the relevant ministers within the coming months; a further hearing would then take place in the High Court of Justice. The Committee recalls that the Convention applies to all workers, whether nationals or migrant workers, and that the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value applies to the basic wage or salary as well as any additional emoluments, including overtime pay. The Committee asks the Government to provide full information on how female caregivers, foreign and national, are able to enjoy equal remuneration for work of equal value with male workers, national or foreign, in law and in practice. Noting that a governmental staff committee will submit recommendations, the Committee asks the Government to expedite this process and ensure that caregivers, whether working part-time or on a live-in basis, are not discriminated against on the basis of sex and that the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value is fully applied to them, including with respect to overtime pay. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the specific recommendations made, as well as on the outcome of the further hearing in the High Court of Justice. Please include information on any complaints submitted by female foreign and national caregivers with the different authorities, indicating the nature of the complaint and the outcome thereof.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.