Knesset Advances Legislation to Reimburse Employers for Reservists’ Pension Payments

The All-Israeli Association of Trade Unions Histadrut has called on Deputy Israel Eichler, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Labor and Social Security, to promote a bill that would reimburse employers for the pension contributions of workers who are called up for reservist duties. The request was made by Yossi Barabi, head of the trade union of employees of security companies, cleaning companies, and elderly care companies. The bill is expected to be tabled within two weeks unless the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Defense agree on government legislation before then.

The proposed bill aims to address a problem that exists under the National Insurance Law, which compensates reservists based on their “gross” salary but does not include social conditions paid by their employer, such as pension contributions, severance pay, vacation pay, health benefits, sick days and more. These deductions can amount to 22%-36% of an employee’s salary and are currently non-reimbursable losses for employers.

According to MP Eti Atia, this issue is particularly acute in industries such as safety and security where over 100 thousand people are employed and at least 20% are called up for reservist service. This puts significant financial pressure on already unprofitable industries like security companies when they have to pay 25% of the salaries of 20% of their workforce.