Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Israel (Ratification: 1959)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Legislative developments. The Committee notes that the ground of pregnancy has been included in the prohibition of discrimination in section 2 of the Employment (Equal Opportunities) Act, 5748-1988 which, as amended, provides that an employer shall not discriminate in employment and occupation between employees or between jobseekers on the ground of gender, sexual preference, marital status, pregnancy, parenthood, age, race, religion, nationality, country of origin, views, political party or duration of reserve duty. The Committee notes that further amendments to the Act provide for the establishment of the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission under the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labour. The Commission is to be headed by a National Commissioner for Equal Employment Opportunities and it is operating three district offices headed by Regional Commissioners. The Commission has a broad mandate to promote the recognition and exercise of rights under the equality in employment legislation, including through the following: public awareness raising; cooperation with other relevant bodies and persons, including workers and employers; research and collection of information; interventions in legal proceedings; and the handling of complaints. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the activities of the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission with regard to discrimination on all the grounds covered by the legislation, including information on the number of complaints received and the manner in which they have been resolved. In this regard, please indicate whether any complaints have been received from migrant workers, including those from the occupied Palestinian territories. The Committee also requests the Government to supply information on the number, nature and outcomes of discrimination cases under the Act dealt with by the courts or labour inspectors.

Equality of opportunity and treatment irrespective of race, national extraction, or religion. Recalling its previous comments concerning equality of opportunity and treatment of Arab Israelis, the Committee remains seriously concerned over the extent to which Arab Israeli men and women, a group now constituting over 20 per cent of the population, remain disadvantaged in the labour market. Data provided by the Government for 2006 indicate that the employment rate for Arabs was 40.6 per cent, compared to 65.9 per cent for Jews (18 to 65 years of age). No significant improvements of the employment rate of the Arab population have occurred since 2000. According to data of the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) for 2007, the unemployment rate for Arabs was 12.1 per cent (9.6 per cent for men and 15.1 per cent for women), and 6.8 per cent among Jews (6.2 per cent for men and 7.4 per cent for women). The average gross monthly income of Arabs in 2006 was 4,915 NIS compared to 7,454 NIS for Jews. The disadvantaged position of Arabs in the labour market is also reflected in a high incidence of poverty among Arab families. According to the National Insurance Institute, the poverty rate among non-Jewish families was 54 per cent in 2006, compared to 14.7 among Jewish families.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that an employment subsidy scheme, implemented by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labour since 2005 has helped to create new jobs for members of the “minority sector”. In 2007, the Government established the Authority for the Economic Development of the Arab, Druze and Circassian Sectors. As regards access to public employment, the Committee notes that section 15A of the Civil Service (Appointments) Act requires adequate representation of members of Arab, Druze and Circassian population in civil service employment. In February 2004, the Government decided that 8 per cent of the governmental workforce is to come from the Arab, Bedouin, Druze and Circassian populations by 2007, with the percentage rising to 10 per cent by 2009 (CERD/C/471/Add.2, 1 September 2005, paragraph 229). There is also an affirmative action scheme to ensure representation of these groups in government-owned corporations.

The Committee urges the Government to intensify its efforts to ensure and promote full equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation of Arab Israelis in the public and private sectors, paying particular attention to creating opportunities for Arab Israeli women. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed and complete information on the steps taken by the various responsible government agencies to this end as well as on the results secured by such action, including information on the following matters:

(i)    statistical data, disaggregated by sex, on the evolution of the labour force participation of Arab Israelis, their representation in the different occupations and industries, and the employment rates of Arab Israeli men and women according to their level of education;

(ii)   the progress made in ensuring proportional representation of men and women from the Arab, Bedouin, Druze and Circassian population in the civil service, including statistical information on the number of men and women from these groups in the different areas and levels of civil service employmen;.

(iii) the activities of the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission to combat discrimination in employment and occupation, particularly during selection and recruitment, of Arab Israeli men and women, based on their race, religion or national extraction, and information on any cooperation with workers’ and employers’ organizations in this regard.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.