A recent amendment to Israel's sexual harassment law expands the obligations of an employer under the law to cover employees of contractors providing services to the employer.
The Law for the Prevention of Sexual Harassment is intended to address, among other issues, occurrences of sexual harassment in the workplace. Towards this goal, various obligations applying to employers are set out, including an obligation to establish effective means of filing a complaint of sexual harassment; an obligation to handle cases of sexual harassment effectively; and other obligations, including an obligation to publish regulations regarding the prevention of sexual harassment and how cases of sexual harassment are handled.
The application of the law was previously expanded to employees of manpower contractors placed at workplaces. However, this expansion of the law's application did not apply to employees of service contractors.
In an amendment to the Law published on July 25, 2024, its application was expanded such that the law will now also apply to those who receive services through a contractor. The definition of ‘service' in this context is broad and applies to any service received from a contractor through employees. At the same time, the scope of the prohibition on harm resulting from sexual harassment was similarly expanded to employees of service contractors.
This amendment will take effect on January 25, 2025.
The amendment sets up transitional provisions under which, until regulations are enacted on this matter, the existing rules for an employer carrying out its obligations as they apply to manpower contractor employees placed at a workplace will also apply to employees of a service contractor.
Takeaway for Employers
Note that workplaces employing more than 25 employees are obligated to establish regulations regarding the prevention of sexual harassment and the handling of complaints. In light of the new amendment to the law, these regulations should be amended to include reference to their application to employees of a service contractor.
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