According to Ministry officials, the Ministry of Labor and
Welfare will continue to enforce the Work and Rest Law. Its
inspectors will issue fines to businesses illegally employing
Jews on Shabbos. Non-Jewish inspectors will be sent to the
store which opened two weeks ago in Jerusalem after the court
refused to issue a temporary order to prevent the store from
operating illegally on Shabbos.
It was reported last week that the Chief Justice of the
Regional Labor Court of Haifa, Rami Levi, imposed heavy fines
on two companies employing workers on Shabbos. A fine of NIS
30,000 was levied on the Elunial company operating McDonald's
restaurants in Israel. Macdonald's manager, Omri Padan,
received a fine of NIS 50,0000. Representing the State,
Attorney Ravit Tzadik charged the company with illegally
employing youth in the Lev Hamifratz shopping mall, as well
as in the Haifa new shopping mall in 1997. The company
succeeded in delaying court procedures for a long time.
However, Justice Levi finally issued the abovementioned fines
last week.
In another ruling issued by Justice Levi in Tel Aviv, the
Handyman company was fined NIS 55,000 for employing Jewish
workers on Shabbos. Levi determined that the scenario from
workers' testimony is that workers know that Shabbos work is
often a condition of employment.
The Labor and Welfare Ministry was pleased with the rulings
of Justice Rami Levi. "It has been proven that those who are
most harmed by working on Shabbos are the workers themselves
who want to be with their families on the rest day but are
forced to work against their will," Minister Eli Yishai said.
The Ministry notes, however, that the common dragging out of
legal procedures results in a situation in which the fines do
not serve as a deterrent. The result: more and more business
open on Shabbos.
