The All-Israeli Association of Trade Unions Histadrut has made a plea to Deputy Israel Eichler, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Labor and Social Security, requesting him to take action on promoting a bill to reimburse employers for the pension contributions of workers called up for reservist duties. This initiative was proposed by Yossi Barabi, head of the trade union representing employees in security, cleaning, and elderly care companies.
If an agreed government legislation is not formulated by the Ministry of Finance and Defense within two weeks, Barabi’s bill will be tabled. The Ministers of Labor and Defense have given their support to this proposal. The National Insurance Law currently compensates the wages of reservists based solely on the “gross” salary of the employee who went to duty without including social benefits such as pension contributions, severance pay, vacation pay, health benefits, sick days and more paid by employers. These non-reimbursable losses can amount to 22%-36% of an employee’s salary.
This issue is particularly pressing in safety and security sectors where approximately 100 thousand people are employed with at least 20% being called up for reserve service at great risk. For security companies paying 25% of the salaries of 20% employees is a significant cost that adds to their already unprofitable business operations.