The State Attorney's Office informed the Tel Aviv Regional Labor Court that the state is transferring budgets to the Independent Education Network to pay teachers for supervision during prayer hours - and expressed surprise that the educational network does not transfer the payment to employees.
According to a report by Shahar Ilan in Calcalist, the update by the Attorney General's Office was made as part of a class action lawsuit - Revealed among the Haredim 10 - In the amount of 70-200 million shekels, filed by a teacher of the network from Beit Shemesh, due to non-payment for prayer hours.
The request for approval of the class action lawsuit filed by the teacher from Beit Shemesh, through attorneys Reuven Biton and Yaakov Biton, to the Tel Aviv Regional Labor Court raises a difficult question: Does the network transfer to the teachers all the money it receives for them?
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It should be noted that additional class action lawsuits were filed against the chain - the filing of which was first published in Haredim 10 - due to allegations of violation of employee conditions, including the obligation to donate wages to an association affiliated with the chain, the obligation to work a weekly "volunteer hour", and a claim by substitute workers.
In independent education, classes begin with a 30-45 minute prayer. However, according to the prosecutor, "Unlike other networks, teachers in the independent education network do not receive pay for supervision during prayer. This is in complete violation of the Working Hours and Rest Law, the Wage Protection Law, and the rulings of the labor courts.".
Independent Education responded to the request, through attorneys Chaya Spiegel and Talia Savir - who claimed: "The lawsuit is unfounded and lacks any factual or legal basis, (it) was filed for opportunistic motives and constitutes an abuse of the class action lawsuit process.".
According to the Independent Education, "supervising students in prayer constitutes a task that is ancillary to the teacher's role and is not a separate job that justifies paying additional wages.".
According to independent education, this is a shift, such as supervision during recess that is not paid extra, and that the teacher can read the newspaper during prayer time...
The network claimed: "During the prayer time, the applicant is not required to engage in teaching, but is only required to supervise the students. Subject to his presence in the classroom, he is permitted to engage in his personal affairs or matters related to his work (such as reading a newspaper or checking notebooks). All that is required of the teacher during this time is that he be present in the classroom and supervise the students who are praying. It is therefore clear that the mere presence in the classroom during prayer, which is essentially supervising students, is not equivalent to a lesson in which instruction is being conducted.".
Independent Education further claims: "The Ministry of Finance does not allocate separate standards for prayer supervision time, and does not budget wages for work during this time. Obviously, to the extent that there was a budget for this work time within the budget, separately from the teachers' salaries, it would be paid to the teachers.".
Another claim by independent education: "The funds do not 'stay' at the independent education center, but are paid directly from the Ministry of Finance to the teaching staff. Therefore, independent education cannot derive any economic benefit from funds that remain with it, and there can be no claim that it is enriching itself illegally.".
However, the state's response, submitted through Attorney Efrat Samuel of the Tel Aviv District Civil Attorney's Office, paints a completely different and embarrassing picture for independent education.
Samuel states unequivocally: "The Ministry of Education transfers a budget to independent education also for the prayer hour component, and the respondent must pay accordingly to the teachers employed by it. Independent education actually received the full budget for the year 2011 to which it is entitled, including for prayer hours, and it is therefore unclear why it did not pay its employees as required for this salary component as well.".
""The state" also "completely denies the independent education claim that the budget amounts are paid directly from the state treasury to the employees' bank accounts. Independent education receives support from the Ministry of Finance to carry out its activities. It determines the amount of salary it pays to each employee. The salaries of independent education employees are transferred from the state treasury to a bank account in the name of the independent education, and it makes the payment of salaries to employees in accordance with its decisions.".
