Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Israel (Ratification: 1959)

Foreign caregivers. In its previous observation the Committee referred to 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 foreign women workers providing care on a live-in basis. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that there is no discrimination against female caregivers on the basis of sex although they are in a female dominated sector. Moreover, the Government also indicates that the High Court of Justice recently rejected the petition of Ms Gloten as it considered that live-in caregivers fall outside the current formulation of the Hours of Work and Rest Law because of the nature of the employment which cannot be restricted to specific hours. The Government further indicates that a staff committee submitted the following recommendations to the Minister of Economy: the Hours of Work and Rest Law and its regulations concerning overtime pay should be amended in order to clarify that live-in caregivers are not excluded from the scope of the law, emphasizing the difficulty of supervising their working hours; instead of overtime pay, these workers would be entitled to a comprehensive wage which would include payment for overtime not less than 120 per cent of the monthly minimum wage; the weekly rest would be no less than 25 hours; the Wage Protection Law, 1958, would be amended in order to limit the rate of the wage that the employer can pay in food and drink to no more than 732 Israeli shekel (ILS) per month; the regulation which entitles the employer to deduct half of the sum for housing should be abolished with respect to live-in caregivers and deductions for various expenses will not exceed ILS409 in the caregiving sector only. The Committee requests the Government to ensure that female foreign workers are not being directly or indirectly discriminated against on the basis of sex, race, colour or national extraction, and to provide information on any differential impact between national and foreign workers with respect to the measures of protection or requirements applying to the caregiving sector. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the measures adopted to give effect to the recommendations formulated by the governmental staff committee and any difficulty in this regard. 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.