Minimum WageAct, 5747 – 1987
§ 1. Definitions
In this Law –
“Representative Employee Organization”, “Collective Agreement,” “General Collective Agreement” and “Extension Order” –as these terms are defined in the Collective Agreements Act, 5717 – 1957;
“The Average Wage” – as defined in section 1 of the National Insurance Act [Consolidated Version] 5728 – 1968;
“The Minister” – the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs;
“The Prescription Act” – the Prescription Act, 5718 – 1958;
“The Wage Protection Act” – the Wage Protection Act, 5718 – 1958;
“The Penal Law” – the Penal Law, 5737 – 1977;
“The Criminal Procedure Act” – the Criminal Procedure Act [Consolidated Version], 5742 – 1982;
“Hours and Work and Rest Act” – the Hours of Work and Rest Act, 5711 – 1951;
“Actual Employer” and “Manpower Contractor” – as these terms are defined in section 1 of the Employment of Employees by Manpower Contractors Act, 5756 – 1996;
“Criminal Procedure Ordinance (Arrest and Search)” – the Criminal Procedure Ordinance (Arrest and Search) [New Version], 5729 – 1969;
“Minimum Wage,” per month – 47.5 percent of the average wage as on the 1st of April of each year and as increased pursuant to this Law;
“Daily Minimum Wage” – the Minimum Wage divided by twenty-five in respect of an employee employed for a six-day workweek, and the Minimum Wage divided by 212/3 in respect of an employee employed for a five-day workweek;
“Hourly Minimum Wage” –the Minimum Wage divided by 186.
§ 2.The Right to a Minimum Wage
(a)An employee who has reached the age of eighteen (hereinafter – “Employee”) who is employed in a full-time position, as is customary at his place of employ, is entitled to receive a wage from his employer of not less than the Minimum Wage Per Month, the Daily Minimum Wage or the Hourly Minimum Wage, all as the case may be.
(b)An Employee employed in a part-time position is entitled to a partial Minimum Wage to be calculated pro rata to the percentage of his position.
(c)When an Employee is absent from work, the Minimum Wage to which he is entitled pursuant to subsection (a) shall be reduced at a rate pro rata to the time of his absence. However, if he is entitled to receive payment for the time of his absence pursuant to any law, employment contract, Collective Agreement, Extension Order or other collective arrangement or pursuant to the provisions obligating a provident fund (in this section – “the Arrangement”), the payment shall be in accordance with the provisions of the Arrangement.
§ 3. Calculationof Wage for the Purpose of the Minimum Wage
(a)The wage to be taken into account for the purposes of section 2 shall be the wage payable by an employer to its Employee for an ordinary workday as is customary at his place of employ.
(b)The following wage components shall be taken into account for the purposes of subsection (a):
(1)basic wage or combined wage;
(2)cost-of-living allowance, if not included in the combined wage;
(3)fixed increment payable to the Employee due to his work.
However, the following shall not be taken into account: a family allowance, seniority increment, shift premium, a measured, agreed, fixed or group premium, a thirteenth-month salary, grants on an annual basis and reimbursement of expenses, including subsistence, board and lodging and traveling expenses that the employer pays.
(c)Repealed.
(d)If an Employee’s wage is not payable in accordance with the components specified in subsection (b)(1) and (2), or in accordance with a portion thereof, the wage shall, for the purposes of subsection (a), be calculated in accordance with the ordinary wage without increments.
§ 4. Increase of The Minimum Wage
The minimum wage shall be increased in accordance with the rates of a cost-of-living allowance, price-increase compensation, or other wage increment prescribed in a General Collective Agreement and payable to the majority of the Employees whose terms of employment are regulated by Collective Agreements. The increase shall take effect on the date that the increments as stated take effect.
§ 5. No Reduction of the Minimum Wage
In no case shall the amount of the Minimum Wage be reduced due to the updating thereof pursuant to this Law.
§ 6. Promulgation of the Minimum Wage
The Minister shall promulgate a notice in Reshumot regarding –
(1)the updated Minimum Wage on the 1st of April of each year;
(2)repealed;
(3)The Minimum Wage increased pursuant to the provisions of section 4 and the inception date thereof.
§ 6A. The Right to Minimum Wage vis-à-vis an Actual Employer
(a)The right of an Employee of a Manpower Contractor to the payment of a Minimum Wage as specified in section 2 shall also apply vis-à-vis the Actual Employer if one of the following has transpired:
(1)the Employee demanded the payment of the Minimum Wage from the Manpower Contractor in writing, delivered written notice to the Actual Employer, and delivered the said demand pursuant thereto, and the Minimum Wage was not paid by the Manpower Contractor by 21 days after the delivery date of the notice; a demand and a notice as stated can also be delivered by an Employees’ Organization as stated in section 7 or, if the Employee has consented thereto, by an organization engaging in the advancement of the rights of Employees;
(2)a Labor Inspector delivered written notice to the Actual Employer that, according to information in his possession, an Employee of a Manpower Contractor, who is working for the Actual Employer, did not receive a Minimum Wage, and the Minimum Wage was not paid by the Manpower Contractor by 21 days after delivery of the notice;
(3)the Employee instituted an action on the grounds of breach of this Law against the Manpower Contractor and against the Actual Employer, even if a notice or demand pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2), as the case may be, had not been delivered prior thereto, and the Minimum Wage was not paid by the Manpower Contractor by 21 days after the date that the action was served to the Actual Employer.
(b)Notwithstanding that stated in the definition of “the Determinant Date” in the Wage Protection Act, for the purpose of payment of the wage pursuant to this clause by the Actual Employer, the Determinant Date shall be the ninth day after the end of the period stated in subsection (a)(1), (2) or (3), as the case may be.
§ 6B. Bulletin
(a)An employer shall display a bulletin, as prescribed by the Minister pursuant to subclause (b) hereunder, in a conspicuous location in the workplace, which specifies the fundamentals of the Employees’ rights pursuant to this Law.
(b)The Minister, after consulting with the Employees’ Organization whose membership accounts for the majority of organized Employees in the State, and with employers’ organizations which, in the Minister’s opinion, are representative and concerned parties, and with the approval of the Knesset Labor, Social Affairs and Health Committee, shall prescribe the wording of the bulletin, which also specifies the height of the Minimum Wage as shall be valid from time to time, and the address and telephone number of the labor law enforcement department at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
(c)In addition to the provisions of subsection (b), the Minister may prescribe, in the manner specified in that subsection –
(1)the languages in which the bulletin shall be displayed, with respect to all employers or to categories of employers;
(2)alternative or additional ways for displaying the bulletin with respect to categories of employers;
(3)categories of employers that shall be exempt from the obligation of displaying the bulletin.
(d)The penalty imposed on an employer that fails to fulfill its obligation pursuant to subsections (a), (c)(1) or (2), and is not exempt pursuant to subsection (c)(3) is – the fine specified in section 61(a)(1) of the Penal Law, and an additional fine as specified in section 61(c) of the Penal Law, for every week that the offense persists, as of the date on which the Labor Inspector notified the employer in writing that it is failing to fulfill its obligation pursuant to this section; an offense pursuant to this section is of the type of offenses bearing strict liability.
§ 7. Right of claim
A claim by an Employee for payment of a Minimum Wage can be lodged at the labor court by the Employee or by the Representative Employees’ Organization at that place of employ, or, if there is no suchEmployees’ Organization, by the Employees’ Organization of which the Employee is a member.
§ 7A. Protection of Complainant.
An employer shall not take any action prejudicial to an Employee's wage, to his promotion at work or to his terms of employment, and shall not dismiss him from his job due to any complaint or claim that the Employee lodged on the grounds of a breach of any of the provisions of this Law, or due to his having assisted another Employee in relation to a complaint or claim as stated.
§ 7B. Presumptions
When deliberating an indictment or an action pursuant to this Law against an employer, the presumption is that, in each of the following instances, the employer failed to pay a Minimum Wage, unless proven otherwise:
(1)The accused or the defendant did not present an attendance record in relation to an Employee, if the employer is obligated to record the attendance of that Employee pursuant to the Hours of Work and Rest Act, when requested to do so by the Employee, Labor Inspector, or by a court;
(2)The accused or the defendant did not give the Employee a detailed wage statement as specified in section 24 of the Wage Protection Act, or did not present a payroll register as specified in section 24 of that Law, if the employer is obligated to furnish a detailed wage statement and to keep a payroll register pursuant to that Law, when requested to do so by the Employee, Labor Inspector or by a court;
(3)The accused or the defendant did not specify the value of the wage payable to the Employee for an hour of work in the detailed wage statement that it gave to the Employee, or in the payroll register being kept pursuant to section 24 of the Wage Protection Act; the presumption pursuant to this paragraph shall apply only if the following two apply:
(1)the employer is obligated to furnish a detailed wage statement or to keep a payroll register pursuant to the Wage Protection Act;
(2)the Hours of Work and Rest Act applies to the Employee, except when the Employee is receiving an inclusive wage pursuant to a Collective Agreement that has been approved in accordance with section 5 of the Wage Protection Act.
§ 8. Increased compensation.
The labor court may require an employer that delayed the payment of a Minimum Wage to pay increased compensation for the delay in wage, as the court shall deem just under the circumstances of the case.
§ 8A. RestrainingOrder and Mandatory Injunction
Notwithstanding the provisions of section 3 (2) of the Contracts (Remedies for Breach of Contract) Law, 5731 – 1970, in an action in respect of a breach of the provisions of section 7A, the labor court may issue a restraining order or a mandatory injunction, if it concludes that an award of damages alone would not be just; when considering whether to issue an order or injunction as stated, the court shall take into account, inter alia, the effect that such an order may have on labor relations at the workplace concerned.
§ 9. Restriction to Claim
Notwithstanding that stated in any agreement, the determination or updating of the Minimum Wage pursuant to this Law shall not, per se,serve as a cause for a claim for an increase of the wage of an Employee beyond the Minimum Wage, or for any differential by reason of the determination or updating of the Minimum Wage.
§ 10. Average Wage
(a)For the purpose of calculating or increasing a wage that is linked, by law or agreement, to the Average Wage, the following shall not be taken into account: changes in the Average Wage that derived from a difference between the Minimum Wage as on the 2 Nissan 5747 (1 April 1987) and the Minimum Wage paid to the majority of Employees immediately prior to the inception of this Law, or which arose from a change effected in the Minimum Wage due to the updating thereof.
(b)The Minister and the Minister of Finance shall promulgate a notice in Reshumot regarding changes in the Average Wage that are not to be taken into account for the purposes of subsection (a).
§ 11. Saving of Rights
With the exception of sections 9 and 10, this Law shall add to, and not derogate from, the right of an Employee by virtue of law, Collective Agreement, collective arrangement or employment contract.
§ 12. Prohibition of Stipulation
A right of an Employee pursuant to this Law cannot be made conditional or waived.
§ 13. The State as an Employer
For the purposes of this Law, the State is tantamount to any other employer.
§ 14. Punishment - Employer
The punishment imposed on an employer who fails to pay a Minimum Wage to its Employee is – one year of incarceration or a fine as specified in section 61(a)(4) of the Penal Law; an offense pursuant to this section is of the type of offenses bearing strict liability.
§ 14A. Punishment – Actual Employer
(a)If an Employee was employed by a Manpower Contractor, and a Minimum Wage was not paid to the Employee, the punishment imposed on the Actual Employer is – incarceration for six months or half of the fine specified in section 14, provided that one of the circumstances specified in paragraphs (1), (2) or (3) of section 6A(a) has transpired.(b) The provisions of subsection (a) shall not derogate from the liability of a Manpower Contractor pursuant to section 14.
§ 15. Responsibility of Managers
If an offence pursuant to this Law has been committed by a corporation, every person who, at the time the offense was committed, was an active director, a partner - other than a limited partner - or a clerk in that corporation and responsible for the matter in question, shall also be accused of the offence, unless he has proven that the offense was committed without his knowledge and that he had taken all reasonable measures to ensure compliance with this Law.
§ 15A. Civil and Penal Prescription – Actual Employer
(a)For the purpose of the Prescription Act, the day on which a Manpower Contractor breached its obligation to pay the Minimum Wage shall be deemed the day that the cause of the action arose against the Actual Employer, pursuant to section 6A.
(b)For the purpose of section 9 of the Criminal Procedure Act, the day on which a Manpower Contractor committed an offense pursuant to section 14 shall be deemed the day on which the offense was committed by the Actual Employer, pursuant to section 14A.
§ 15B. Labor Inspectors
(a)The Minister shall appoint inspectors from among the employees of his ministry for the purpose of supervising the implementation of provisions pursuant to this Law (in this Law – Labor Inspectors).
(b)For the purpose of fulfilling his functions pursuant to this Law, a Labor Inspector may –
(1)demand to be furnished with information and documents, or copies thereof, concerning the implementation of the provisions of this Law, from an employer, from an Actual Employer, or from another person who is involved in the matter;
(2)demand from any person as stated in paragraph (1) to give him his name and address, and to present an identity card or other official certificate that he is obligated to possess by any law that attests to his identity;
(3)enter any place where the Labor Inspector has reasonable grounds to assume that people are being employed therein, or that the business of an employer is being conducted therein, including the business of a Manpower Contractor, and may conduct an inspection therein.
(c)If a suspicion has arisen of the commission of an offense pursuant to the provisions of this Law, a Labor Inspector may –
(1)investigate any person who, in his opinion, has information pertaining to the commission of the offense;
(2)seize any object, including a document, pertaining to the commission of the offense.
(d) The provisions of sections 2 and 3 of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance (Evidence) shall apply to an investigation pursuant to subsection (c)(1), and the provisions of Chapter Four of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance (Arrest and Search) shall apply to any object seized pursuant to subsection (c)(2).
§ 15C. Obstruction of a Labor Inspector
(a)The penalty imposed on any party obstructing a Labor Inspector in the fulfillment of his duties pursuant to this law is – incarceration for six months.
(b)The penalty imposed on any party who fails to comply with a demand by a Labor Inspector pursuant to section 15B. is – incarceration for six months and, in addition thereto, a fine as specified in section 61(c) of the Penal Law, for every day during which the offense persists beyond the deadline affixed by the Inspector for the fulfillment of the demand.
§ 15D. Obligation of a Public Authority
(a)In this section, “Public Authority” – as this term is defined in section 38A.(a) of the Youth Employment Act, 5713 – 1953.
(b)A Public Authority shall include a clause in a contract to be signed between it and a contractor that is performing work in a project or that is providing services at the authority’s request (in this section – “Performance Contractor”), which prescribes that a breach of provisions of this Law by the Performance Contractor vis-à-vis an Employee being employed by the Performance Contractor for the purpose of performance of a contract as stated, also constitutes a breach of the contract.
§ 16. Working youth
(a)The Minister, with the approval of the Knesset Labor and Social Affairs Committee, may prescribe provisions in regulations regarding the application of this Law to an employee who is under the age of eighteen; regulations as stated may be general, according to categories of Employees or according to categories of employers.
(b)Regulations as stated in subsection (a) may prescribe a Minimum Wage at rates lower than those specified in this Law and may prescribe different rules than those prescribed in this Law for the calculation of the Minimum Wage, including rules regarding the wage components to be taken into account.
§ 17. Protected Enterprises
(a)The provisions of this Law shall apply with respect to Employees with physical, mental or intellectual handicaps, who are being employed by protected enterprises, in whose budgets the State Treasury is participating, whether or not such employees have reached the age of 18, if the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, with the approval of the Knesset Labor and Social Affairs Committee, has so prescribed in regulations, either generally or for particular categories of cases; regulations as stated can prescribe a Minimum Wage that is lower than that prescribed in this Law.
(b)The Minister, with the approval of the Knesset Labor and Social Affairs Committee, may prescribe provisions in regulations regarding the application of this Law to Employees with physical, mental or intellectual handicaps, who are also not employed by protected enterprises as stated in subsection (a), and can prescribe a Minimum Wage to Employees as stated or to categories thereof at rates lower than that specified in this Law.