Several organizations have appealed to Minister of Labor Yoav Ben-Tzur, demanding that he enforce the law against employing Jews on Shabbat more significantly.
Several organizations have appealed to the Minister of Labor Yoav Ben-Tzur with an urgent request to increase enforcement against the employment of Jewish workers on Shabbat.
They claim that this is a widespread phenomenon that is expanding without interference, and that governmental inaction harms workers’ rights and the values of Shabbat for the public.
In a letter sent to the minister’s office, the organizations claim that the Ministry of Labor has failed in recent years to fulfill its duty to enforce the Hours of Work and Rest Law, partly due to minimal supervisory manpower – there are only four inspectors operating on Shabbat across the country. The organizations also accused the government of taking too lenient a policy towards lawbreakers.
The organizations noted that during the coronavirus pandemic and amidst the Swords of Iron war, enforcement was completely halted. “Instead of seeing the law as a social and national value that should be protected even in emergencies, the Ministry of Labor simply turned a blind eye.”
According to the data attached to the letter, about 22% of Jewish workers in Israel (about 760,000 workers) reported that they worked during Shabbat in the past year – many of them in sectors such as commerce, services, entertainment, and high-tech, which have no general permit for employment on Shabbat.
Of these, about 9.5% even testified that they worked remotely – mainly from home – as part of implied demands from the employer. It was also revealed in the organizations’ letter that about 40% of Israeli residents shop on Shabbat, with 35% of the public visiting commercial centers in Tel Aviv alone, about 10% on a monthly basis.
The organizations argue that the data indicate a massive violation of the law not only by businesses open on Shabbat but also by employers who employ Jewish workers, sometimes without additional compensation and without alternative days off.
The letter includes a series of recommendations for the Ministry of Labor, including technological supervision on the documentation of working hours on Shabbat, carrying out investigations and official checks after Shabbat, intensifying penalties against repeat offenders, possibly transferring them to criminal prosecution, publishing the names of businesses that violate the law, and immediate recruitment of new inspectors and expanding their powers.
“Minister Yoav Ben-Tzur holds the keys and he is the one who needs to use them. Without decisive actions from the Ministry of Labor, the law will remain ineffective. We demand the return of Shabbat to its place as a social and national value, and to ensure that Israeli workers receive the rest they are entitled to according to the law,” the organizations stated.
