Israel’s new BIG Glilot Mall opened last month in the wealthy town of Ramat Hasharon, just north of Tel Aviv, to much fanfare. One of the mall’s unique selling points is that it remains open on Saturdays—unlike most Israeli malls, which are closed on Saturdays until the evening.
According to a 2018 law, Israeli retail stores are prohibited from opening on Saturdays unless they receive approval. When BIG Glilot announced many of its stores would operate on Saturdays, it set off a protest campaign of many religious Israelis.
“Israel is a democratic and liberal state. We don’t require tenants to open on the Sabbath, nor do we compel customers to shop or employees to work. We support freedom of choice and strongly oppose religious coercion,” BIG Glilot said in a statement following the controversy.
According to Israeli labor law, workers are entitled to a 36-hour consecutive rest period including their religion’s weekly day of rest—for Jews, Saturday. Employers are prohibited from employing workers on the weekly day of rest unless they receive a special permit from the labor minister.
Workers who are employed on their weekly day of rest, are entitled to at least 150% of their regular wage for each hour worked, in addition to alternative rest hours, and employers are forbidden from discriminating against or refusing to hire someone who states they do not agree to work on their weekly day of rest.
The Ramat Hasharon municipality announced that it does not intend to enforce the ban on employing workers on Saturday by fining businesses that do so, prompting the Ministry of Labor to launch an inspection operation. As part of the operation, inspectors from the Enforcement Administration of the ministry examined 10 businesses that were open on Saturday and found 13 Jewish employees working in violation of their weekly day of rest.
Following the findings, the Ministry of Labor initiated enforcement proceedings, which are currently under investigation. Once the investigations are complete, further action will be taken by the authorized entities. The ministry emphasized that for each violation of employment on the weekly day of rest, it is possible to file an indictment or impose a financial penalty on the employer of 41,130 shekels, or about $11,100, for each violation.
“It is strictly forbidden to employ Jewish workers on Shabbat without receiving a special permit,” Labor Minister Yoav Ben-Tzur said. “I will not allow monopolies to exploit workers from disadvantaged populations illegally. Accordingly, the enforcement division of the Ministry of Labor has increased enforcement against employers who violate the law. As Labor Minister, my policy is clear and resolute: In the Jewish state—neither Shabbat nor workers rights will be trampled on.”
This article was translated from Hebrew by Matthew Levy.
