The All-Israel Labor Court rejected an appeal by the Middle and High School Teachers’ Union against the Finance Ministry’s decision to withhold a significant portion of the salaries of teachers involved in strike sanctions.
Thus, the court upheld the Ministry of Finance’s demand to withhold up to 15% of salaries and all amounts paid to teachers as an advance payment for salary increases after reaching a preliminary agreement between the teachers’ association and the Ministry of Finance in August 2023.
We are talking about 2,400 shekels in bonuses, 5% of the salary for each class for which the teacher did not grade the internal matriculation exam, and 1-3% for ungraded grades in other exams. The fine for refusing to participate in extracurricular activities (excursions, etc.) will be 2.5% of the salary, for non-participation in parent-teacher meetings – also 2.5%.
However, the court held that there were many deficiencies in the wage deduction order and issued an order suspending the order due to flaws in the process of issuing it. A prohibitory decree was adopted against the Ministry of Finance and local authorities, prohibiting the implementation of the order of the Ministry of Finance, until the shortcomings are corrected and the next court decision on this issue.