Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Migration for Employment Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 97) - Israel (Ratification: 1953)

Article 6 of the Convention. Equality of treatment (foreign caregivers). The Committee recalls its previous observation regarding the exclusion of live-in caregivers from the applicability of the Hours of Work and Rest Law 1951, and the concerns raised that a discriminatory and inferior legal regime would be applied to women migrant workers. It also recalls the heavy dependence of the care sector on the work of live-in foreign caregivers, and the importance, in the context of proposed reforms regarding the nursing sector, to ensure proper working conditions and effective and accessible complaints mechanisms and means of redress to foreign caregivers in line with Article 6(1)(a)–(d) of the Convention. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that 49,156 workers (or 58 per cent of all foreign workers) were employed in the nursing sector in 2016 and that at least 80 per cent of them were women. The Committee also notes that foreign caregivers continue to be required to reside in the homes of their employers and that live-out arrangements or part-time employment are prohibited (Foreign Workers’ Handbook, updated in 2017). The Committee previously noted that the 63,000 female Israeli care workers in the long-term caregiving sector were mostly employed in part-time jobs through nursing care companies. No comparable data are provided on the number of Israeli workers in the long-term caregiving sector in 2016. Regarding measures to improve the situation of foreign caregivers, the Committee refers to its observation on the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100), in which it notes the Government’s intention to adopt a gradual approach towards the implementation of recommendations made to the Ministry of Economy to improve the situation of foreign caregivers, which related, among others, to amendments of the legislation and a comprehensive wage. The Committee notes the Government’s reply that the collective agreements which have been adopted in the past few years have established a minimum wage, far higher than the statutory minimum wage, which has had an impact on migrants’ income. Therefore, the rise in the minimum wage should be considered an appropriate compensation for those foreign live-in caregivers who have no possibility to have compensation for overtime. The Government also states that in most cases workers in the sector do not work more than a regular working day. Recalling the heavy dependence of the care sector on the work of live-in foreign caregivers, the Committee wishes to draw the Government’s attention to the close correlation between the quality of the working and living conditions of the care providers and the quality and continuity of the care provided, in particular in the case of long-term care. Considering that the caregiving sector is the largest sector in which foreign workers are employed and taking due note of the Government’s intention to find an appropriate solution towards improving their situation, the Committee refers to its comments on Convention No. 100 and asks the Government to continue its efforts, in consultation with workers’ and employers’ organizations, to ensure that the proposed legislative framework guaranteeing adequate pay and favourable working conditions for caregivers is in accordance with the provisions of Article 6 of the Convention. The Committee asks the Government to provide detailed information on the progress made and on any obstacles encountered in this regard.

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