The All-Israeli Association of Trade Unions Histadrut has made an appeal to Deputy Israel Eichler, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Labor and Social Security, requesting him to begin promoting a bill to reimburse employers for the pension contributions of workers called up for reservist duties. This initiative is supported by the Minister of Labor and the Minister of Defense.

According to MP Eti Atia, this issue is prominent in many areas, especially in the field of safety and security. Approximately 100 thousand people are employed in this sector, and at least 20% of them are called up for reservist service, risking their lives. For security companies, paying 25% of the salaries of 20% of workers is a significant cost for an already unprofitable industry.

The National Insurance Law currently compensates the wages of reservists based on the “gross” salary of the employee who went to reservist duty, without including social conditions paid by the employer such as contributions to the pension fund, severance pay, vacation pay, health benefits, sick days, and more. These non-reimbursable losses for employers can amount to 22%-36% of the employee’s salary. Yossi Barabi