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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 February 2016
The study of labour law in Israel need not start before the occupation of Palestine by the British at the end of the First World War. The inheritance left to the British by the collapsing Ottoman Empire in many fields of law, and especially in labour law, was meagre and primitive. As a matter of fact, the Ottoman system did not even acknowledge the existence of labour law as such. Only a few provisions concerning labour could be found on the statute book, intermingled with provisions regulating the hire of chattels and animals.
During the Mandatory period, the British took it upon themselves to modernise local law. This, indeed, they accomplished in many fields of law. But labour law remained an exception. In this field they preferred to do as little as possible. This may be largely explained by their unwillingness to disturb the social and economic order which had prevailed in Arab society for centuries. Thus, the few labour laws enacted by the British up to the Second World War set very minimal standards. For example, the Women and Children (Industrial Employment) Ordinance of 1927 prohibited the employment of children under twelve years; but even this prohibition applied only to factories and workshops, and not to agriculture and other trades.
1 For further details see Zamir, I., “Labour and Social Security” in Tedeschi, G. and Yadin, U., eds., Studies in Israel Legislative Problems, 16 Scripta Hieroso-lymitana (Jerusalem, Magnes Press, 1966) 289.Google Scholar See also Preuss, W., The Labour Movement in Israel (Jerusalem, 1965).Google Scholar
2 On the Histadrut, see Plunkett, M.L., “The Histadrut: The General Federation of Jewish Labour in Israel” (1958) 11 Industrial and Relations Review 155CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Avrech, I. and Giladi, D., eds., Labour and Society in Israel (A Selection of Studies), (Department of Labour Studies, Tel Aviv University, 1973).Google Scholar
3 Hours of Work and Rest Law, 1951 (5 L.S.I. 25); Annual Leave Law, 1951 (5 L.S.I. 155); Youth Labour Law, 1953 (7 L.S.I. 94); Apprenticeship Law, 1953 (7 L.S.I. 86); Employment of Women Law, 1954 (8 L.S.I. 128); Wage Protection Law, 1958 (12 L.S.I. 100); Severance Pay Law, 1963 (17 L.S.I. 161). For details on these and some other labour laws, see U.S. Department of Labour, Labour Law and Practice in Israel (prepared by Poliak, M.), (Washington D.C., 1967).Google Scholar
4 The statutes establishing these institutions are, respectively, the National Insurance Law, 1953 (8 L.S.I. 4), the Employment Service Law, 1959 (13 L.S.I. 29), and the Settlement of Labour Disputes Law, 1957 (11 L.S.I. 51). On national insurance see Lotan, G., National Insurance in Israel (Jerusalem, 1969).Google Scholar
5 11 L.S.I. 58.
6 See further Zamir, I., “Government Intervention in Collective Bargaining in Israel” in International Conference on Trends in Industrial and Labour Relations (Jerusalem, 1972) 245.Google Scholar
7 See also Zamir, I., “The Law of Labour Disputes” (1974) 9 Is.L.R. 548.Google Scholar
8 Kahn-Freund, O., Labour Law: Old Traditions and New Developments (Toronto, 1968) 79.Google Scholar
9 On the Labour Court see Bar-Niv, Z.H., “The Labour Courts and Their Place in the Legal and Labour Relations Systems of Israel” (1974) 9 Is.L.R. 558Google Scholar; Adler, S., “The Israel Labor Courts” (1977) Labor Law Journal 13.Google Scholar