Observación (CEACR) - Adopción: 2024, Publicación: 113ª reunión CIT (2025)

Convenio sobre la discriminación (empleo y ocupación), 1958 (núm. 111) - Israel (Ratificación : 1959)

Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention. Discrimination on the basis of sex, race, colour or national extraction. Foreign live-in caregivers. The Committee notes the general information provided in the Government’s report on the role and competencies of the Commissioner for Foreign Workers’ Rights. The Government specifies that, in 2022, the Commissioner received a total of 1,320 inquiries regarding foreign caregiver workers, with the leading topics being information on social rights, termination of employment, pension and deposits, salary, pregnancy and childbirth rights. The Committee further notes the Government’s indication that the Commissioner issues various publications, including through its Facebook page, to inform workers and employers in the caregiver sector on their respective rights and obligations, such as: (1) the 2022 Letter to the employer of a foreign caregiver, which details the employment process and working conditions of foreign caregivers; (2) a Letter on preventing sexual harassment in the live-in caregiver sector; and (3) a Letter on vacation days and unpaid leave in the live-in caregiver sector. The Committee observes, however, that the Government still provides no information on the steps taken or envisaged to amend Hours of Work and Rest Law, 1951, with some adaptation to take into consideration the difficulty of supervising the working hours of live-in caregivers, as recommended by the Government Staff Committee in 2009. In this regard, it reiterates that, given that a large number of live-in caregivers are foreign women, the exclusion of the live-in caregivers from the applicability of this law may lead in practice to both indirect and direct discrimination on the basis of sex, race, colour or national extraction. The Committee therefore urges the Government to: (i) indicate the measures taken or envisaged to extend with adaptation the application of the provisions of the Hours of Work and Rest Law, 1951, to live-in caregiver workers; and (ii) report on any other measures taken or envisaged to improve the working conditions of live-in caregivers in practice, including the facilitation of access of labour inspectors to the homes of private individuals employing live-in caregivers. Noting that the Government has mainly communicated on the requests for information of foreign caregiver workers, the Committee reiterates its request to the Government to provide information on any complaints submitted by caregivers that relate to cases of discrimination, including information on the number of complaints, their nature and outcomes.

Articles 1 and 2. Equality of opportunity and treatment irrespective of race, national extraction or religion. The Committee takes note of the various programs mentioned by the Government, encouraging the integration of different minority groups in the Israeli labour market, including in higher income occupations. The Government notably mentions: (1) the “Economic plan to reduce disparities in Arab society until the year 2026”, which aims at developing the employment of Arab people, both in terms of employment rate and quality of work; (2) a program coordinated by the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) and the ITWORKS non-profit organization, which develops tools to encourage the employment of Arab, Bedouin and ultra-Orthodox Jewish women in high-tech companies; and (3) the “Aid program for the absorption of additional employees for businesses in Israel”, which assists employers in hiring workers from populations with a low participation rate in the Israeli labour market, such as Arab and ultra-Orthodox people, persons with disabilities and single parents. The Committee further notes that the Government provides a detailed report on the characteristics of the Israeli Labour Market in 2022, indicating among other information that: (1) the employment rate of ultra-Orthodox women continued its upward trend (79.4 per cent in 2022), although 58 per cent of them occupy part-time jobs, compared to 34 per cent of non-Orthodox Jewish women; (2) the employment rate of ultra-Orthodox men remains low (53 per cent in 2022), with 40 per cent of them working part-time jobs, compared to only 17 per cent of non-Orthodox Jewish men; (3) among Arab women, the employment rate increased but remains low (42 per cent in 2022); (4) among Arab men, the employment rate stands at 74 per cent, but the rate of inactive (who do not study and do not work) Arab men aged 18 to 24 years old is still very high (32 per cent in 2022); and (5) the wage data for the year 2021 indicate a nominal increase of 3 to 7 per cent in the wages of these populations, but since inflation that year was 2.8 per cent, the actual increase is relatively low. The Committee asks the Government to report: (i) on the results of the programs mentioned above (including statistical data) adopted to promote equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation, irrespective of race, national extraction or religion; and (ii) on any other measures taken to ensure the effective integration of minority groups, especially Arab and non-Orthodox Jewish people, into the labour market, including in higher income categories.

With regard to the Basic Law on the Nation State, 2018, the Committee notes that the Government reiterates previous information. In these circumstances, the Committee once again asks the Government to report on any measures taken to assess whether the implementation in practice of the provisions of the Basic Law on the Nation State, 2018, adversely affects the employment and occupational opportunities of certain population groups.

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