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74 The US-Israel Legal Review 2019
ISRAEL: EMPLOYMENT
and conditions. Employers may, and in certain
circumstances are required under various sources,
to provide their employees with more beneficial
entitlements,whichexceed themandatoryminimum.
Mandatory
employment
benefits
include:
minimum wage, working hour limitations, annual
leave, sick leave, recuperation pay, travel expenses,
pension,studyfund(notmandatory,butverycommon)
and various leave entitlements (bereavement leave,
maternity leave, parental leave).
IS A DISTINCTION MADE BETWEEN LOCAL
AND FOREIGN WORKERS?
Israeli labour law is territorial and generally applies
to employment performed in Israel. Consequently,
the employment of foreign employees in Israel
is subject to local labour legislation (except for
those with employment agreements which include
enforceable foreign governing law provisions),
including collective agreements (when applicable)
and extension orders.
There is broad legislation which applies
specifically to the employment of foreign employees
and which regulates different aspects of such
employment. This legislation imposes additional
obligations on the employer of a foreign employee,
for example the obligation to provide the foreign
employee with appropriate medical insurance
and accommodation, specifically detailed in the
applicable regulations.
It is a criminal offence for an employer to engage
a foreign worker who does not have a suitable visa
from the Ministry of Interior.
In general, work visas are granted in five
fields of the economy: construction, agriculture,
nursing, services and industry. An additional
type of visa application has come into use for
“foreign experts”, which includes special unique
elements: a high degree of expertise or unique and
essential knowledge of the service provided by the
applicant, which does not exist in Israel and his/
her monthly salary shall be no less than twice the
average salary in Israel.
CAN YOU OUTLINE THE REGULATIONS
SURROUNDING WHISTLEBLOWING?
The Protection of Employees Law (Exposure
of Offences of Unethical Conduct and Improper
Administration) Law 5757-1997 (the “
Protection
of Employees Law
”) is the main law that protects
whistle blowers in Israel.
According to the Protection of Employees Law,
an employer or an appointee of the employer must
not impair an employee’s terms of employment (as
therein defined) and must not dismiss him/her
for submitting a complaint against his employer
or against any employee of his/her employer, or
for assisting another employee in submitting a
complaint as aforesaid.
The protection under the Protection of
Employees Law will be afforded only with respect
of a complaint that fulfills all the following terms:
1. the complaint was filed in good faith, or the
complainant assisted in the filing of the complaint
in good faith;
2. the complaint was submitted in connection
with a breach of legislation at the workplace
or a breach of any legislation relating to the
employee’s work, or the employer’s field of
business activity, or in a public body – also where
the complaint was filed in regard to unethical
conduct or improper administration;
3. the complaint was filed with an authority
authorised to receive complaints, or authorised
to investigate the matter that is the subject of
the complaint.
The limitation period for filing a claim to the
labour court regarding this law is twelve months
after the day on which the grounds for the claim
arose. With respect to the retaliation against
whistleblowers (which is not limited to retaliation
made by the employer, but also to retaliation made
by an “appointee of the employer”, as defined in the
law), the employer may be liable to pay punitive
damages of up to NIS 50,000 (and in severe cases up
to NIS 500,000), irrespective of whether any actual
damage was caused to the whistleblowing employee
by the employer’s unlawful conduct. Retaliation
against whistleblowers may also be considered,
under certain circumstances, as a criminal offence
which may result in a punishment of up to three
years of imprisonment or a fine of up to NIS 75,300.
CAN YOU OUTLINE SOME OF THE KEY
ISSUES REGARDING TRADE SECRETS AND
RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS?
In general, the Commercial Torts Law, 5759-1999