Kav LaOved recently launched an Arab media campaign, hoping to raise the awareness of female Arab workers to their rights under Israeli labor law. The campaign, titled “Don’t give up your rights!” emphasized key issues, such as the prohibition of the dismissal of pregnant workers, sick leave pay, the right to be absent due to child illness, the right to pension insurance, and the right to minimum wage.
Tens of thousands of workers across the Arab community were exposed to the campaign, which aired for two weeks on local radio broadcasts in Arabic, printed as an ad in four magazines, and shared as a YouTube video on Kav LaOved’s Arabic Facebook page.
Following the campaign, many female Arab workers turned to Kav LaOved and demanded to review their rights. These inquiries have revealed serious violations and testified yet again to the harmful conditions that characterize the employment of female Arab workers in Israel. Particularly notable were the violations of rights, including dismissals regarding issues of pregnancy or childbirth. Inquiries on these issues continue to flow to Kav LaOved – Workers’ Hotline, even now, after the campaign has ended.
The significant increase in complaints among female Arab workers is proof of the lack of awareness regarding the protections provided by the labor law for working women during pregnancy and childbirth. It also reveals that these laws are being severely violated by employers, and that governmental enforcement of labor laws is lacking.
As a result, Kav LaOved has recently issued an updated workers’ rights leaflet in Arabic, which explains most of the rights and privileges provided by labor law to female workers during infertility treatment, pregnancy, childbirth, and beyond.
To view media materials of the campaign, please click here, here, and here.
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