Last update - 00:00 04/02/2007
Two manpower companies fined NIS 6m for hiring illegal workers
By Ruth Sinai, Haaretz Correspondent
Two human resources companies have been fined an unprecedented NIS 6 million for illegally employing foreign workers, it was revealed Sunday.
The 29 foreigners worked at three Dead Sea-area hotels - Golden Tulip, Novotel and Crowne Plaza.
In addition, the companies' managers were also fined NIS 300,000 for authorizing the employment.
Be'er Sheva Labor Court convicted "Shahak Security Services" and "Aboudi Manpower," along with the companies' managers, Rami Bareket and Kabara Hachim, last week for employing the workers past the legal time period and without proper working papers.
The defendants asked the court to fine them without calculating the number of workers or violations. Judge Ilan Sofer rejected the request and said that each worker's deal was illegal in itself.
"The defendants made a hefty fortune considering the number of workers and [long] time of employment, which shows it was systematic and not a one-time occurrence," Sofer wrote in the conviction.
Attorney Iris Ma'ayan, who filed the indictment on behalf of the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Labor, said the conviction passes an important message that it is not only necessary to take a tough approach to companies employing workers illegally, but also to place the onus of responsibility on the company managers, as well.