workers, as most of them come from Thailand and a few from Nepal. Worker's Hotline helps approximately 1,400 employees per year, which complain about conditions of employment, or require the full terms and social rights due to them from the employer. Through field trips and Thai language Facebook group - the organization reaches thousands of other workers learn their rights.
Key issues
Fees: letters received by the employee line shows that the average amount paid agricultural workers to come to Israel now stands at approximately $ 10,500. The amounts collected from workers pay brokerage fees through loans, most of which are non-bank loans at high interest rates (3% -5% per month). The average period required for an employee to return the loan amounts Chantal takes about two years. During this time, workers are afraid to complain, even in cases of serious injuries rights.
Signing contracts: contracts signed in her spokesman worker before his arrival in Israel. The employee is to receive a copy of the contract detailing working conditions, salary, details of deductions, working hours and other details. Unfortunately, most employers breach the contract and enforcement is not effective enough to stop the phenomenon. Mtoniim agricultural workers often lack hygienic place of residence and breach of contract terms.
Language difficulties: Thai migrant workers do not speak English and do not read the language. Thus, workers depend entirely interpreters to communicate with their employers, physicians, contacts or state authorities. The difficulty to communicate with the authorities and employers weakens the workers since in most cases they do not know where to turn and how to communicate.
Geographic distance: migrant workers in the agricultural sector are not unionized and tight knit community and thus more vulnerable. Employees are scattered throughout the country, often in remote and isolated communities and that they are distant from each other and the aid organizations. Thus becoming completely dependent workers only authority figures they know: the employer and the manpower company.
Binding practice: Despite Ministry of Interior regulations allow migrant workers in agriculture to replace Employers - Exercise of this right is not possible in practice. Agricultural workers depend almost exclusively in personnel for the purpose of placement in an alternative employer-worker permit, but these companies prefer to hire new employees brokerage fees which will be charged extra. For workers it is impossible to find out which employers need workers, those who are granted employment permits, or how to reach them. In addition, uniformity in wages and conditions offered to migrant workers in agriculture affect the willingness of workers to leave jobs, in the absence of real competition on the labor force.
Complaints regarding wages: workers complain inter alia, withholding wages, working without a weekly rest day, no holiday pay, failure to receive sick pay and other social rights violations. The average wage of agricultural workers is about 117 gross per working day (8 hours ), ie 14.6 NIS per hour - 70% of the minimum wage. Nor rewarded employees providing extra charge for overtime - the average salary for work every additional hour is about 16 NIS. Although Israeli employers are required to open a bank account for them in Israel - most workers are paid directly to bank accounts in the country of origin , through a brokerage firm part of their salary altitude. They do not receive a pay slip and their relatives have to find out what is the salary level received. In this way they do not know whether money was deducted from their wages, and for what, and for how many hours of work paid.
Working hours: Farm workers are working far beyond the maximum set by law. Employed workers sometimes 14 hours a day or even more. In addition there are gross violations of safety rules at work - for example when working with pesticides that endanger workers.
Major achievements of a worker
The signing of a bilateral agreement between the governments of Israel and Thailand: In 2006, a worker appealed to the High Court to order the State to curb the practice of charging exorbitant fees to migrant labor. The court ruled that the state update related enforcement action against brokers and about promoting agreements with other countries origin of migrant workers. While the appeal is pending, the Government of Israel and the Government of Thailand signed a bilateral in 2009, aims to establish order new offering in the agricultural sector governance Migration (IOM). half of 2012, the first workers from Thailand under an arrangement new recruitment, without mediation Power company private person.
Extension of the employee organization has yet Check out: Procedures Ministry of Interior stated that migrant workers who have completed their work in Israel to leave the country within 30 days of termination of employment. A short period is not sufficient for the employee and the organization creates problems Hmorot- short period serves as an incentive for employers to avoid paying wages and other social rights of the employee will have no option but to leave. Following a meeting between the employee and CEO of the Department of Immigration and Interior Ministry officials, the organization extended to 60 days, a period that would allow employees to exhaust their rights against employers.
Empowering employees and increased awareness of rights: distribution Zcotonim, opening Facebook page and Thai newspaper reports have proven themselves. Today, more and more workers come to complain about basic employment conditions. The most significant change considerably in the segments of workers' rights at the end of Hasktm- workers who were previously unaware of their right to receive severance pay in lieu of vacation, pension contributions or created, come every week and ask that we all make them calculations at the end of their employment, they teach their employers.