The government decided to give a grant for the return of employees from the hospital, but according to the employers, the procedure depends on the "goodwill" of the employee.
"Farce": Employers' grants depend on their employees
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Following the Corona crisis, the Israeli government is providing a special assistance grant to employers, aimed at returning workers from the sick and reducing unemployment. The grant is intended for employers who have succeeded and are able to return workers from unpaid leave or absorb new workers.
Employers can choose which of the two possible routes they want to receive the grant.
Based on the number of employees that employers have employed in recent months, the system will calculate for them the quota of employees for whom they can apply for the grant.
This quota reflects the increase in the "number of employees" in the relevant months according to the chosen route.
But according to many employers who have approached us, as well as their accountants, the problem with them is the bureaucracy and awkwardness involved in accepting them.
In order for an employer to receive a grant, its employees must also participate in the process, even if they do not enjoy its results.
As part of the process, the employees of the employers who submit the application are required to confirm the correctness of the details entered about them, even if they are no longer working in the workplace.
Their employer has no indication as to whether or not their employees did.
"An absurd situation has arisen in which an employer depends on the kindness of his employees and sometimes his former employees, who have no interest in responding to these messages," tells us an accountant of a business that has so far failed to receive any compensation for returning its employees from eight months ago.
Businesses are required to fill out Excel reports for each month separately.
"These reports are considered very complex for dealers and they are also afraid to ask for assistance from an accountant who of course charges a fee for each hour worked," he adds.
In addition, employees say that after filling in the details, they were notified that they do not appear in the system.
"Submission deadlines extended"
It should be noted that this is a law that was approved on June 15 in Bezeq legislation, and within 30 days of its approval, an operation was submitted for the purpose, including a designated hotline.
The Minister of Finance is responsible for the implementation of this law, but the condition of the employee's consent has been added by order of the Ministry of Justice.
Finance data show that 62,363 employers have applied for this grant.
The Ministry of Finance said in response, "So far, about 57,000 employers have received the employment incentive grant for more than 420,000 workers. Working together with the employment service has improved and facilitated the submission process. In practice it can be seen that the grant was particularly accessible to small businesses, so that about 75% of the businesses that applied for the grant are businesses with up to five employees. In the budget. When so far about NIS 1.6 billion has been spent on this grant. "
The Ministry of Justice explained that the reason why the employee is required to confirm the accuracy of the details is that it is sensitive information about his employment situation during the crisis and his social entitlements at the National Insurance Institute.
The official response from the Ministry of Justice stated that "this law established entitlement for an employer to receive a grant for an employee admitted to the labor market, subject to compliance with a series of cumulative conditions, some conditions known to the employee as 'qualifying employee' That there is no place for the information about an employee's compliance with the definition of 'qualifying employee' to be provided to the employment service through the employer, since this is sensitive information about his employment situation during the crisis and his social entitlements in the National Insurance Institute. And even constitutes excess information. "
CPA Erez responded to the matter: "This is completely ridiculous, because the information requested from the employees is known to every employer and does not include any information that a reasonable employee has an interest in hiding from his employer."
Advocate Roi Cohen, President of Lahav, responded to the matter and said that "the grant for returning workers to employers has become one big farce due to its difficulties and cumbersome bureaucracy.
In all developed countries of the world it is a simple procedure of simple reporting and receiving an initiated grant from the state because it is a top interest, and only here in Israel are approvals and documents and reports needed and all this is due to the state's distrust of employers and it must stop.
It is time for government ministries to internalize that employers are cheating the country and not cheating the country. "