Employers = Thieves (well, not ALL of them) and Bastards
An article in yesterday's "Ha'aretz", somewhere in the back pages, describes the results of an operation carried out by the Ministry of Labor: Over the last few weeks some 300 controllers went to many workplaces in the south and central area of Israel, to check upon employees' conditions.
The result: 90% (NINETY, yes NINETY, this is not a mistake) of the employers were found to disregard their employees' rights, in most cases paying less than the minimum wage.
And what does that mean? Let me give you an example. No, it's not out of Dickens, but today, in Jaffa:
My dear friend Aisha* works full time in a store in Jaffa. What do you mean by full time? Seven (7) days a week, between 10 - 14 hours a day.
She receives less than minimum wage, no over time, no holidays.
Her break?
What do you mean break? She doesn't have one (unless 15 minutes of coffee, once a day, while sitting on the floor behind the meat counter is considered a break).
She is the only one who receives a payslip (which never states her hours, only the global pay) at her place of work, because she insists on it.
None of the other girls receive pay slips. She suspects the employer doesn't pay social security and other payments for those girls. Each payslip staes the current month as her first month of work. Her employer refuses to sign the payslips.
She works as a check-out girl at a small but very successful minimarket. She is a very good worker, never late, quick and attentive, polite to customers, always doing her job well.
She also has a full matriculation certificate, is VERY clever, has good computer skills and has a certificate as kinder garden assistant.
So, why doesn't she leave that horrid job?
Because no one wants to employ her: She's a young religious Muslim woman, long dressed and head-covered. She has submitted countless CV's. Called employers, but the jobs are never available.
As a test we sent an identical CV with a Jewish name. We then called twice, once with Aisha's name and once with a Jewish name.
When Aisha called, using her own name, she was told, the position was no longer available. When she called using a Jewish name (5 minutes after the first call) she was given an appointment for a job interview.
She supports her whole family (parents and brothers) and her salary is their sole source of income right now. So she's scared to complain, afraid of loosing that miserable job.
*Aisha is not her real name. All details are true.
The result: 90% (NINETY, yes NINETY, this is not a mistake) of the employers were found to disregard their employees' rights, in most cases paying less than the minimum wage.
And what does that mean? Let me give you an example. No, it's not out of Dickens, but today, in Jaffa:
My dear friend Aisha* works full time in a store in Jaffa. What do you mean by full time? Seven (7) days a week, between 10 - 14 hours a day.
She receives less than minimum wage, no over time, no holidays.
Her break?
What do you mean break? She doesn't have one (unless 15 minutes of coffee, once a day, while sitting on the floor behind the meat counter is considered a break).
She is the only one who receives a payslip (which never states her hours, only the global pay) at her place of work, because she insists on it.
None of the other girls receive pay slips. She suspects the employer doesn't pay social security and other payments for those girls. Each payslip staes the current month as her first month of work. Her employer refuses to sign the payslips.
She works as a check-out girl at a small but very successful minimarket. She is a very good worker, never late, quick and attentive, polite to customers, always doing her job well.
She also has a full matriculation certificate, is VERY clever, has good computer skills and has a certificate as kinder garden assistant.
So, why doesn't she leave that horrid job?
Because no one wants to employ her: She's a young religious Muslim woman, long dressed and head-covered. She has submitted countless CV's. Called employers, but the jobs are never available.
As a test we sent an identical CV with a Jewish name. We then called twice, once with Aisha's name and once with a Jewish name.
When Aisha called, using her own name, she was told, the position was no longer available. When she called using a Jewish name (5 minutes after the first call) she was given an appointment for a job interview.
She supports her whole family (parents and brothers) and her salary is their sole source of income right now. So she's scared to complain, afraid of loosing that miserable job.
*Aisha is not her real name. All details are true.
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2 comments:
hi yudi
I posted this on a Muslimah's forum, with link and credits , of course. I hope I have your permisssion. If mot, please let me know, and I will remove it. I will also like to know if I can do the same for your other posts.
As long as it is linked with credit, no problem at all.
I'm all in favor of a free information society
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