2023-07-18 05:38:26
The framework agreement signed yesterday (Monday) between Histadrut Chairman Arnon Bar-David and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is the largest collective wage agreement in Israel, covering all public sector employees.
The last agreement of this type was signed in 2016 and ended in 2019. Public sector workers are now expected to enjoy a series of benefits, including general wage increases of 11%, a shortening of the work week from 42 to 40 hours, and a welfare response for retirees on the accrual pension track. This is after the last March salary (on the eve of Passover) they enjoyed a one-time signing bonus of NIS 6,000.
Who does the agreement apply to?
The framework agreements directly encompass approximately 400,000 employees, including approximately 36,000 employees of government ministries and trust units (excluding teachers and kindergarten teachers in the education system), approximately 55,000 employees of the health system (excluding doctors), approximately 200,000 local government employees, and approx. – 55 thousand employees of government companies, administrative employees in academic institutions.
The permanent soldiers, the police, the guards and the members of the Shin Bet and the Mossad are not included in the framework agreement directly, but their wages are expected to be affected by it as well, following mechanisms for linking their wages to the wages of other public sector workers, which have been anchored in legislation over the years.
How long is the agreement valid for?
The validity of the agreement is until the end of 2027. During this period the salary will increase in accordance with the agreed upon outline, and there will be no organizational measures concerning the salary.
The wage increases will be given in several pulses, the first of which are shekel increases whose effect reduces disparities between workers in the public sector. In total, the agreement is expected to directly raise the wages of all male and female workers by approximately 11% during the period of the agreement.
The first installment of NIS 400 is expected to apply to the upcoming July salary (2023) which is paid at the beginning of August. Another 100 shekel payment should apply in October 2024.
The following pulses of the agreement are percentage pulses:
In the December 2024 salary, the employees will receive a 2% salary increase in the April 2025 salary, a 1.5% increase in the April 2026 salary, a 1.5% increase in the April 2027 salary, a 1% increase
Is the shortening of the work week expected to affect my salary?
As part of the agreement, the work week in the public sector will be shortened, so that a full-time position will be defined as of October 2023 as a 41-hour work week, and as of September 2024 as 40 work hours. The general working week in the economy today stands at 42 working hours.
The shortening of the work week is done without affecting the wages of the workers, and this means that the value of an hour of work for a full-time worker will increase. The wages of part-time workers will also increase, since their part-time work, which is currently calculated by 42 hours of work, will be calculated accordingly by times 41 and 40 hours of work.
Will all employees in the public sector receive the same supplements?
In addition to the bonuses and bonuses that all employees in the public sector will receive, the agreement also stipulates an amount worth about 3% of the total salary in the public sector, known as ‘boxes’. These boxes will allow the signing of agreements that will include, among other things, additional wage increases for specific sectors at the low wage levels in the public sector, in order to correct long-standing wage deficiencies. Among other things, this amount will be used to sign agreements for social workers, nurses, hospital workers, court workers and other populations.
On top of that, about 50,000 female educational supporters (assistants) in the local authorities were excluded from the framework agreement, for whom a separate favorable reform agreement is expected to be signed in the coming weeks, which includes increases of about 20-30% to their salaries.
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