Equal Employment Opportunities in Israel 23.3.2010

1. Equal Employment Opportunities in Israel 23.3.2010 Tziona Koenig-Yair, Adv. National Commissioner

2. Employment in Israel Unemployment in Israel, 2009: 8.5%

3. Survey of discrimination in Israel • 27% reported feeling discriminated against at work • 45.5% reported feeling age discrimination at work • 39% reported feeling discrimination against the Arab population at work • 35.6% reported feeling discrimination against mothers of young children at work. • 30% reported feeling gender discrimination at work • 32.1% reported feeling ethnic origin discrimination at work

4. E.E.O.C. Goals • To promote the mainstreaming of equality and the • elimination of discrimination inthe workforce • To foster public awareness to the price paid due to • discrimination • To become the focal point for information on • discrimination in the workplace Increasing employment security, promoting independence and promoting personal – social empowerment

5. Strategic Goals • Engaging employers as partners • Promoting cooperation with government offices, civil service, • employers and employees and NGOs • Becoming a source of information to employers and • employees on diversity management and equal employment • opportunities • Offering professional, accessible and reliable legal advice to • employers and employees • Promoting equality and diversity and inclusion via the media

6. E.E.O.C’S Competencies • To foster public awareness (best practices, website in • Hebrew and Arabic, participation in conferences) • To handle complaints (total appeals since 2008 - 742) • To instruct through a legal order to employers to • submit data • To file lawsuits at labor courts (10 lawsuits since 2009)

7. Test Case - Abdul Karim v The Railway Authority • The requirement of military service as a mandatory condition to be accepted to work as a railway “watchman” raised the question of discrimination • The Labor Court adopted EEOC’s legal opinion that: • Requiring military service as a mandatory condition is discriminatory unless proven that the experience is essential to the specific job

8. Total appeals to the E.E.O.C - 2009 498 Appeals

9. Total appeals to the E.E.O.C January – March 2010 147 Appeals

10. The Twinning Project • The project's purpose is to strengthen the institutional • capacity of the E.E.O.C in challenging discrimination in • the workplace learning from the EU’s best practices • The EEOC will draw on the expertise and experience of the • Northern Ireland Commission and other equality bodies • across the EU (20 experts) • The duration of the project is 24 months, leaded by Bob • Niven (Former Chief Executive of Disability Rights • Commission, UK)

11. The Twinning Project • Goals: • Creating good practice agreements with employers • Developing awareness-raising strategies • Building legal and quantitative data bases • Creating an overall longer term strategy

12. THANK YOU WWW.MOITAL.GOV.IL/SHIVION

13. Equal Employment Opportunities Bill Discriminationon the basis of: age, sexual orientation,religion, ethnic origin,reserve duty in the army, pregnancy, personal status, fertility treatments, gender, nationality Discrimination is prohibited: acceptance to work, work conditions, promotion, termination of work relations