Yesterday, the Home Front Command updated its civilian guidelines, calling on Israelis to refrain from gatherings in the north, to operate workplaces only with access to protected areas, and to stop classes in educational institutions. The guidelines, which apply to more than one million Israelis, will be in effect until today at 18:00 and may be extended as the situation in Israel’s north heats up. Accordingly, many workers are forced to be absent from work. Here’s what workers need to know about their rights and obligations during wartime.
Can I be fired for not showing up to work if my workplace lacks a bomb shelter or other protected space?
Every citizen is obligated to obey the instructions of the Home Front Command. An employer who fires a worker whose absence is in accordance with the instructions of the Home Front Command is acting in violation of the law, and a labor court is authorized to cancel the dismissal. In cases where it is not clear to workers whether the factory is protected, they should seek instructions from the Home Front Command. In any case, workers should not be forced to work without the protection required by the security forces. Additionally, it is forbidden to dismiss workers serving in military reserves during their service and in the 60 days following their return, unless the employer received permission from the Ministry of Defense's employment committee.
If I miss work because of the security situation, will I still be paid?
In all recent wars, the obligation to pay wages to workers retroactively was regulated through collective agreements and extension orders, and the employers' entitlement to receive compensation for wages from the Tax Authority was regulated within the framework of the Law for Protection of Workers in Times of Emergency.
Compensation is usually given when a business is closed in accordance with the Home Front Command directives. If the Home Front Command guidelines state that those in the area where the worker is employed must remain in a protected area and not go to work, the worker will be entitled to wage compensation. If the workplace is outside that designated zone but the worker did not come to work because of fear of traveling, the worker will not be compensated.
What if I have to miss work because my children’s school is closed?
The collective agreements signed over the years between the government, employers, and the Histadrut following other wars obligated employers to pay wages for days of absence due to the need to care for children up to age 14 (or children with disabilities up to age 21) who were left without a framework in accordance with the Home Front Command directives regarding the closure of educational institutions. For this purpose, workers are required to provide a declaration that they had to miss work to care for their child, and that their spouses were not absent from work at the same time.
What compensation will be given to eligible workers?
The salary to be paid is the usual wage, in addition to all social benefits. No one-time payments, annual payments, reported overtime, on-call pay, expense reimbursements, or tax payments will be transferred.
Past agreements allowed compensation for up to 20% of workers’ leave days from the rest of the vacation days they accumulated. (This arrangement does not apply to absence due to illness, accident, vacation or reserve duty). Compensation is limited to a salary of 2.5 times the average wage, and subject to reporting or failure to appear at the workplace due to the Home Front Command directives.
Who is defined as an essential worker who must come to work despite the state of emergency?
Essential workers have a legal obligation to continue coming to work. This includes workers in local authorities, government ministries, emergency services, hospitals, refineries, power plants, desalination plants, defense industry, food factories, neighborhood grocery stores, pharmacies, ports, and public transportation. In these workplaces, workers are required to show up even if the workplace does not have access to a bomb shelter or is otherwise not protected.
The list of essential enterprises can be obtained from the Ministry of Economy, the Emergency Manpower Department and the Emergency Economy, or Melah. Failure to come to work in an essential factory declared as such by the Home Front Command is ostensibly a criminal offense, and the worker will not be entitled to wages.
What compensation are businesses entitled to?
Compensation to employers for salary payment during times of emergency restrictions is regulated by the Tax Authority. Additional compensation relating to direct and indirect damages resulting from the state of hostilities may be regulated separately by the government.
This article was translated from Hebrew by Benji Sharp.
