The All-Israeli Association of Trade Unions, Histadrut, has sent a request to Deputy Israel Eichler, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Labor and Social Security. The union is seeking his support for a bill to reimburse employers for the pension contributions made by workers called up for reservist duties.
Initiated by Yossi Barabi, head of the trade union representing employees in security, cleaning and elderly care companies, this bill will be presented within two weeks if no legislation is passed by the Ministry of Finance and Defense before then. The Ministers of Labor and Defense have publicly expressed their support for this initiative.
Under the current National Insurance Law, reservists are compensated based on their gross salary without including social benefits paid by their employers such as pension contributions, severance pay, vacation pay, health benefits and more. These non-reimbursable losses can amount to 22%-36% of an employee’s salary.
MP Eti Atia has highlighted this issue’s impact on various industries, particularly in safety and security where around 100 thousand people are employed with at least 20% being called up for reservist service. This puts a significant financial burden on already unprofitable companies like security firms who have to pay 25% of the salaries of 20% of their workforce.
The second section appears to discuss listings of marijuana businesses in different counties and states. It seems irrelevant to the main topic of Histadrut’s request for reimbursement of pension contributions for reservists called up for duty.