Exposing Haredim 10: One of the "open wounds" in the Haredi sector is the employment of thousands of substitute teachers for extended periods in the schools of the "Independent Education" network, when these teachers fulfill their roles with dedication and loyalty, often for years, but their salary is determined on an hourly basis only - just as the salary of substitute teachers is determined on a one-time basis.
As first revealed on the Haredim website 10, A year and a half ago, a request was submitted to the Tel Aviv Regional Labor Court to approve a class action lawsuit against 'Independent Education', for the huge sum of 151,000,000 shekels.
The request was submitted by Attorney Anat Shani and Attorney Pini Kalman, on behalf of two Haredi teachers who worked as substitute teachers in the Independent Education Network.
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According to the allegations in the request for approval, the two substitute teachers claimed that they had been employed by the Independent Education Department for over 51 days, but were paid a fixed hourly wage, not according to their seniority. As a result, they did not receive the training fund and dormitory allowance to which regular teachers are entitled.
These are cases where filling the position is required for an extended period. Such as, for example, in cases of replacing a teacher who has gone on maternity leave, a sabbatical, a long illness, etc. According to the claim in the approval request, this conduct constitutes a violation of the Teaching Staff Service Regulations and the directive requiring payment of salary and allowances as paid in formal education.
A series of dramatic events are unfolding at record pace in this class action lawsuit. Due to its great importance, the Haredim 10 website is constantly monitoring developments.
Recently, Haredim revealed 10 Because the state, through the Attorney General's Office, presented a dramatic position in the proceedings, according to which the substitute teachers should be paid their salaries - exactly as stated in the class action lawsuit, and that the substitute teachers for an extended period are entitled to the full rights to which teaching employees are entitled.
Last week, on May 4, 2023 - after the dramatic state position was given, 'Independent Education' submitted a notice to the court, in which it claims that the state's position is "in the nature of an innovation," and that it "is not consistent with everything that has been said to independent education by the Ministry of Education over the years.".
The announcement further claims that those who instructed the 'Independent Education' to pay hourly wages to substitute teachers instead of paying the full rights due to the teacher are "Mr. Benny Binyamin and Mr. Itay Hadar, representatives of the Ministry of Education, who instructed... on several occasions that every substitute teacher is entitled to have his or her salary calculated according to the 'effective hours' format," meaning hourly wages only.
The Independent Education also notes in its statement that the Ministry of Education misled it into thinking it had to pay the substitute teachers an hourly wage: "To the extent that an error (or mistake) was made in calculating the teachers' salaries, the only entity that benefited from this was the State of Israel - the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education, and to the extent that there is a difference that should have been paid to the teachers - the state must pay the aforementioned differences.".
At the end of the announcement, it was written: "The respondent intends to include the Ministry of Finance and the State of Israel - the Ministry of Education as parties to this proceeding.".
In other words, according to 'Independent Education', since it was in fact misled by representatives of the Ministry of Education into paying an hourly wage to substitute teachers, and since the Ministry of Education's position in the case is that it is mandatory to pay substitute teachers all their rights, then from its perspective, as a result of 'Independent Education's' mistake, the state saved money, and it must transfer its "savings" to 'Independent Education' - so that it can transfer the funds to substitute teachers.
In fact, the 'Independent Education' actually joins the position of the two plaintiffs and requests that the State of Israel be added as a defendant in the case, so that it will be directly responsible for paying the salaries of the substitutes.
Haredim 10 reporter notes that, according to information it has received, whether or not the claim of 'Independent Education' that it was misled by representatives of the Ministry of Education into paying the substitute teachers only an hourly wage, in lieu of their full salary as teachers, is correct - this is great news for thousands of substitute teachers, who, starting on September 1, 2023, will begin to receive their full social rights as teachers.
According to estimates, 3,600 substitute teachers work in Independent Education.
The Haredim 10 reporter emphasizes that these are thousands of women of the Abrech community who are about to double their salaries.
