The number of pregnant asylum-seekers seeking assistance due to dismissal and violation of rights doubled during the war

To read the story in Hamakom.co.il

Lior Malka, head of asylum-seeker department at Kav LaOved, an NGO that promotes workers' rights in Israel, says that since the war began, the number of requests by pregnant asylum-seekers due to dismissal and violation of their rights has doubled. Thus, while before the war the annual average was ten requests, nine new cases were added in the past five months.

Under the chaos and uncertainty following October 7, when the school systems closed, mothers who had to stay home with their children found themselves without work. Many employers took advantage of the situation and sought quick solutions to the gaps left by the workers, in violation of the law and in violation of their rights. "These are people who employ hundreds and thousands of workers, they know the labor laws," Malka says. "You can't be small minded; break the law and hope everything goes smoothly."

According to the Foreign Workers Law, which defines the conditions of eligibility for employing a foreign worker as well as the obligations of the employer of a foreign worker towards them, pregnant and postpartum workers are entitled to rights similar to those of Israeli citizens. Therefore, during pregnancy and after childbirth, they should not be fired. An employer who wishes to dismiss an employee or reduce the salary or scope of the position during pregnancy or three months after birth, must obtain a permit for dismissal from the Commissioner of the Women's Labor Law and prove that the reason for the dismissal is not related to the employee's pregnancy.

Of the asylum seekers whose rights were violated, the organization says, were usually harmed by contracting companies. In the event that a client of the contracting company wishes to replace the employee, the company must find alternative employment for her immediately or pay her salary while she waits for a solution. In cases that came to the organization, women waited more than a month at home for reassignment, without pay, while the contractor delayed answering or ignored them.

In the case of one contractor, the company knew that the worker was pregnant and yet she was asked to wait until she found a job, without pay. She stayed home for three weeks, and was able to go back to work, only after Kav LaOved intervened.

Violations of seniority rights and medical insurance occur quite a bit when transferring workers between secondary contracting companies. When major contracting companies are hired by large bodies such as local authorities or government ministries employ secondary contractor companies, when the workers are being “transferred” between the companies, the exiting company does not always update the insurance seniority and the workers' social benefits for maternity leave, are harmed.

According to Kav LaOved, this situation is not coincidental and is usually deliberate conduct on the part of the companies. "The contracting companies deal with the workers as if they are objects that are passed from hand to hand," Malka says. "Sometimes a contractor works with several companies and then moves the workers as needed and doesn't worry about updating the company about their insurance or the rights they are entitled to. That's how contractor companies operate, if they get away with it, great, and if you catch them, then they'll fix it, but apparently a large part of the cases don't even reach us."

"Every month we open between 30-50 files on violations of the rights of workers, refugees and asylum seekers, and if there were manpower, we would open a hundred."

For example, in the case of D., who was employed by a contractor company as a cleaning worker at a school, which due to the war and the shutdown of the education system, was out of work for nearly two months until a new workplace was found for her. In the meantime, however, D. had already given birth, and apart from two salaries she did not receive, she was also denied all the rights she was entitled to as a pregnant or postpartum woman. Only after the matter was referred to the Commissioner of the Women's Labor Law was the case dealt with.

Employers are taking advantage of the sensitive situation

"Each month we open between 30-50 files on violations of worker’s rights, refugees and asylum seekers, and if we had the manpower, we would open a hundred files. And that's only in Tel Aviv and the surrounding area," Malka says. According to the organization, the demand for assistance in cases of violations of workers' rights is high, especially in the Beer Sheva and Eilat area, where many foreign workers live and work. Despite the organization's desire to help, the workload, especially during the war, is unprecedented.

In five of the cases of pregnant women, Kav LaOved personnel managed to intervene and assist, sometimes it only took a harsh letter to the employer and the matter was resolved. In most cases, the organization is forced to engage the Commissioner of Women's Labor Law, who opens an investigation into the cases, which may take several months. In the meantime, workers are forced to wait at home and lose work days and money. "In due process, they are supposed to continue working until the employer receives a permit to dismiss, most of the times the employer doesn't ask for a permit at all, and so the process takes even longer," Malka says.

"Although the law is well known and clear to contracting companies, they are aware of the weakness of the foreign worker population and take advantage of them in even more sensitive situation, during wartime when they step on their rights," says Assia Ladizhinskaya, a spokeswoman for Kav LaOved. Refugee workers or asylum-seekers often do not speak the language, do not understand their rights, or able to read a payslip. They lack financial backing and are afraid of losing their jobs, so they don't complain about their employment conditions.

When it comes to the rights of asylum-seekers, there is no proactive enforcement by the authorities, and the workers, who in most cases are unfamiliar with the law or aid organizations, fall between the cracks. "Without enforcement, these cases will continue to grow." According to her, judging by the number of inquiries and the time it takes companies to respond, it can be seen that they are not afraid to infringe on workers' rights, not even those of pregnant women. "If they allow themselves to ignore our requests, they probably know they can," Ladizhinskaya says.