Employers who violate labor laws to face criminal charges

Employers who don't pay their workers overtime wages or extra pay for working Shabbat will be liable to criminal charges starting this November. The maximum penalty for each offense is a NIS 12,900 fine and/or a prison term of up to one year.

They remarked Tuesday that one of the primary violations of workers' rights is the failure to pay for overtime hours and work on rest days. Until now, enforcement of these clauses fell on the shoulders of the worker, who was only able to pursue cases through civil procedures. The ministry estimates that tens of thousands of employees suffer from these violations.

In an effort to expand its policy of criminal enforcement, the ministry decided to allow employers time to prepare for the change by giving them until November to begin compliance. The ministry commented that in setting this date it has no intention of protecting employers who failed to pay workers overtime or Shabbat pay during the period preceding November.

Nahum Feinberg, a labor law expert, praises the initiative despite its being late. However, he stresses that its implementation will necessitate beefing up the ministry's supervision. "The problem of supervising labor laws in Israel is a difficult problem. For years, Israel neglected the issue of enforcing many labor laws," he said.

Feinberg adds that workers who are not paid wages for overtime or Shabbat hours can also file a criminal suit, parallel to the civil complaint, before the ministry so that it will open criminal proceedings against those violating the law.

The problematic enforcement of labor laws is nothing new. Lately, the ministry launched a national enforcement campaign during which 300 ministry workers visited 17 different towns to inspect, train and enforce labor laws, from protecting wages and conditions to layoffs, harassment, underage workers, equal rights for handicapped workers and minimum wage. During this campaign the workers found that 92 percent of employers inspected violated various labor laws.