Introduction:
A private recruitment agency that brings in and handles foreign workers is obligated to return the fees it received from the foreign worker in the following cases:
- The foreign worker does not arrive in Israel within a reasonable amount of time from when he paid.
- The foreign worker did not receive his salary for a year from his arrival in Israel or the salary he received was less than 12 times the monthly minimum wage.
{דוגמה| A 34 year old man who lives in Sri Lanka, signed a contract with a private company so that he could work as a a nursing care worker in Israel. The employee paid the private company 3,050 NIS based on the law, but a year passed and the company still did not find him a job in Israel, The company is required to return the money to the employee because he did not get to Israel within the legal requirement of "reasonable time".
Who is Eligible?
- Foreign workers employed in Israel.
- Applicants to work as foreign workers in Israel that contacted Israeli recruitment firms that bring in and handle foreign workers.
How to Claim It?
- Contact the company that the recruitment agreement was signed with and demand that the money be reimbursed.
Please Note
- A company that does not fulfill its obligations and fails to return the money to the foreign worker violates Israeli law and can be sued in an Israeli court.
- Payment that is not returned to the foreign worker on time will be considered as wages and will accrue interest as established by Israeli law.
Aid Organizations
- Worker's Hotline
- Hotline for Refugees and Migrants
- Mesila - Center for Information and Assistance for Migrant Workers and Asylum Seekers living in Tel Aviv
- Schar Mitzva - Voluntary Legal Aid for the Poor
- Physicians for Human Rights - Israel
- The Association for Civil Rights in Israel
Government Agencies
- The Population and Immigration Authority
- The Foreign Workers' Employment Rights Ombudsman
- The National Insurance Institute
- The Interior Ministry
Laws and Regulations
- The Foreign Workers Law
- Regulations of Employment Services (Payments from Work Applicants for Employment Brokerage) - 2006
- Foreign Workers Order (Prohibition of Illegal Employment and Insurance of Fair Conditions) (Basket of Health Services for Employees)
- Regulations of the Employment Service (Submission of Information to a Foreign Worker in connection with Employment Brokerage), 2006
- The Minimum Wage Law
Additional Publications
- The Rights of Foreign Workers on the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Social Services website
- Foreign Workers - Information for Employers and Workers on the Population and Immigration Authority website
- Information Regarding the Employment of Foreign Workers and Illegal Infiltrators on the Population and Immigration Authority website
- Rights of Migrant Workers in the Agriculture Sector, 2019 The Worker's Hotline
- Rights of Migrant Workers in the Nursing Field, 2019 The Worker's Hotline
Credits
- English translation and maintenance by The Shira Pransky Project.
- Original information on this page was written by the Jerusalem Municipality Welfare Department as part of a project to make elderly rights more acceptable, sponsored by Mashov.