There is a trend among employers, especially in Public sector jobs where there is a mandatory tender for every position. This lengthy bureaucratic process can take months. Especially if the employer hasn’t put the proposed position into the annual budget.
In years past, there were employees who worked for years via employment agencies in the same place of work. Sometimes these employees would be transferred from one agency to another, thus losing valuable tenure.
The “Employment of employees via employment agencies” law which was passed by the Knesset in 1996 helped rectify this situation somewhat.
The law specifies explicitly that an employee can be employed via an employment agency for a maximum period of 9 months. After this period, The employer either hires the employee directly or ends his employment. Extending the 9 month period is no longer an option, nor is transferring the employee to another employment agency.
The 9 month period is a mutual period of trial where both the employer and the employee check each other out and decide whether they want to continue employment with each other.
If the employer was negligent and didn’t notify the employee of his intentions on time, The law specifies that “an employee who worked for more than 9 months via an employment agency will then automatically be considered the actual employer’s employee”.
The tenure that an employee worked for an employer via the employment agency is recognized as tenure for all purposes with the employer, as the place of employment hasn’t changed.
The employment agency must conduct a hearing with the employee as to intent of continuation of employment directly via the employer or release of the employee. This needs to be done within the 9 month period and also subject to the advance notice law.
