Israel Continues Drive to Improve Workers’ Welfare with New Amendments

Amendment 56 to the Employment of Women Law

On March 21, 2017, Israel’s parliament, known as the Knesset, approved Amendment number 56 to the Employment of Women Law, 5714-1954. The Amendment, which came into force on March 30, 2017, relates to Section 7(c)(3) of the Employment of Women Law.

The Amendment sets clear criteria, compared to those that existed before, with regard to the eligibility of women and their spouses to a shortened work day in the period following their return from parental leave.

Prior to the Amendment, the law had already established that, among other things, an employee is entitled to be absent from her employment for one “parental hour” a day for the first four months following the end of parental leave, on condition that she is employed in a full-time position. Under the law, if certain conditions are satisfied, a male employee who is “employed in a full-time position” is entitled to exercise the parental hour alone or alternately with his spouse. The law conditions the above entitlement on having a full-time position; however, the law did not define what a full-time position is.

The Amendment to the law defines “full-time position”, for the purpose of exercising the parental hour right, as a position that is accepted in the employee’s workplace as a full-time position or one that is performed for at least 174 hours per month by the woman or her spouse, whichever is lower.

The Amendment is preferential to women and their spouses because, in general, full-time employment in Israel amounts to 186 work hours per month. The Amendment will also apply retroactively to employees for whom the four months from the end of the parental leave have not yet passed.

Amendment 57 to the Employment of Women Law

Also on March 21, 2017, the Knesset approved Amendment number 57 to the Employment of Women Law. In parallel, amendments were made to the provisions relating to childbirth allowance in the National Insurance Law (Consolidated Version), 5755-1995.

According to the new amendments, the period for which women who gave birth are entitled to receive childbirth allowance is extended by one week – from 14 to 15 weeks. To avoid doubt, it is clarified that no change was made to the total maternity and parental leave period for an employee with at least one year seniority, which today stands at 26 weeks.

In addition, the entitlement of male employees to divide the maternity and parental leave period with their wives was expanded in the following ways:

An employee whose wife gave birth may divide the maternity and parental leave period with his wife for the period remaining after the first six weeks following the birth. According to the Amendment, the minimum period that a spouse must be absent from work in order to be entitled to the childbirth allowance is shortened from three weeks to just seven days.
An employee whose wife gave birth may use seven days of maternity and parental leave at the same time as his wife’s maternity leave and receive the childbirth allowance – provided that his wife waives such payment for the final week that she is entitled to receive the childbirth allowance.
An employee whose wife is an independent contractor entitled to the childbirth allowance, will be entitled to split the maternity and parental leave period, similar to the entitlement of a spouse whose wife is a salaried worker (previously, the entitlement to the childbirth allowance was only available to an employee whose wife was a salaried worker).
The above amendments are part of a larger trend to grant equal childcare rights to men – a move from “maternity” rights for women alone to “parental” rights given to both men and women.

It is noted that the term “maternity leave” was replaced in the previous amendment of the Employment of Women Law with the term “maternity and parental leave”.

The Amendment applies to women who gave birth from January 1, 2017, however, the additional childbirth allowance will be paid to these women commencing June 1, 2017.

With regard to the changes in the entitlement of men to use the maternity and parental leave period, the provisions of the Amendment shall apply from April 2, 2017.

However, the childbirth allowance will be paid to the men commencing June 1, 2017.

Amendment 3 to the Law of the Right to Sit in Employment

On March 21, 2017, the Knesset approved Amendment number 3 to the Law of the Right to Sit in Employment, 5777-2017. The law entered into force on April 3, 2017. The Amendment changed the name of the law to “The Right to Sit in Employment Law and in Suitable Conditions”.

The Amendment applies to security workers and is meant to ensure suitable physical conditions for guards and security personnel in the workplace. To this end, the Amendment establishes that an employer of a security guard will be required to make available for the employee’s use a covered or shaded area that provides protection from rain and sun, as well as heating and cooling facilities in accordance with the seasons.

In addition, the employer is required to provide the security employee a post that is part of a structure or next to it or no farther that 25 meters from an electricity outlet – heating or cooling facilities.

The security employee will be entitled to use the post during his employment hours, except if security requirements do not allow the same.

The employer will also be required to allow the security guard access to an electrical outlet and to water at the workplace, to allocate space where the security guard can place his personal belongings, and to make appropriate arrangements that will allow the security guard to use these facilities.

This Amendment applies as relevant also to security guards employed by service companies and manpower companies.

By Adv. Shay Teken, Adv. Moran Friedman, Adv. Naama Moshe and Adv. Karin Ayalon-Reuven, Labor Relations Dept., Fischer Behar Chen Well Orion & Co., Israel, a Transatlantic Law International affiliated firm.

For further information or for any assistance regarding Israeli labor law please contact Shay Teken at israellabor@transatlanticlaw.com.

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