Slippery Slope

Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry investigators say they ignore testimonies given by Palestinian who are suspected of illegally working in Israel, because they have a “tendency to lie”. (Times of Israel)

(Hebrew – Haaretz)

Data collected by the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry’s Research and Economics Administration shows that some 165,000 women, 11.4 percent of all working women, were sexually harassed at their workplaces in 2011.

According to data from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, a quarter of the budget designated for expanding day care for children up to 3 years old was directed to settlements. According to Central Bureau of Statistics, only 4% of the Israeli population lives in settlements.

(Hebrew)

A nationwide inspection of law firms carried out by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor has found evidence of violations of labor laws at 15 of the 22 firms inspected.

(Hebrew)

The Courts Administration has fired two pregnant judicial assistants after they gave notification of their pregnancy,  in violation of labor laws.  The two assistants in question are employed as the personal assistants of two judges.  In both cases the Courts Administration asked the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor for approval of the dismissal after the fact.

State Comptroller, Micha Lindenstrauss, states in his annual report that the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor failed to do enough to increase the number of certified day care centers. He said, that “it must be taken seriously that the department of day care centers did not act to supervise the centers, which can be considered negligence towards parents and their children, who rely on the authorities on this matter.”

According to the report, many citizens who are entitled to subsidized day care centers, were left without a solution, which compromised their ability to seek employment. The lack of certified day care centers is especially prominent in the Arab sector, which has only 2.5 percent of all certified centers, while 27 percent of all infants are in this sector.

(Hebrew)

According to a study by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, only about 20% of the Arab academics who majored in Science or Engineering are employed in the areas of their study. This is in spite of the law which prohibits discrimination in getting a job on the basis of ethnicity. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commissioner, attorney Ziona Koenig-Yair, added: “The study reinforces the feeling of the public, that there still is discrimination against the Arab population – a feeling we get also from employers and from employees.”

(Hebrew )

Inspectors of the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Labor raided hothouses in the south of Israel and found 12 Bedouin children aged 9-14 who were employed under harsh conditions and were even subject to beatings during their work. The police, which were also called in, took the children, the contractor, and the work foreman for further investigation at a nearby police station. Likewise, the children’s parents were also called in, and gave testimonies.

Hebrew