Last update - 00:00 31/12/2007
Pension plan for one million workers to kick off with new year
By Ruth Sinai
All employers will be obligated to allot part of their employees' salaries for pension funds starting Monday, in accordance with an order signed by Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Eli Yishai Sunday.
The estimated one million Israelis without a pension will now be entitled to reap the benefits of an agreement reached between the Histadrut labor federation and employers six months ago, whereby 2.5 percent of the employee's salary will be placed in a pension fund every year, until it reaches 15 percent in five years.
Yishai will set up a monitoring committee, including representation from workers' and employees' organizations, to oversee enforcement of the pension regulation. He will also be appointing an inspector authorized to enter workplaces that are not cooperating.
At the signing ceremony, Yishai praised Histadrut chairman Ofer Eini and Shraga Brosh, the chairman of the Coordinating Council of Israel's Economic Organizations, for reaching an agreement after years of failed attempts by legislators, the government and the Histadrut to do so.
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, 47 percent of the country's workers have no pension plan. Only 28 percent of Arabs and 38 percent of immigrants have a retirement fund.
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