Employing a foreign worker without a permit

The first important question to ask is what makes a foreign worker illegal, or in other words: what steps need to be taken to make the employment fully legal. The rule of thumb is that employment can only be carried out after receiving clear permission from the Ministry of Interior, which will be done after proving compliance with several basic conditions regarding the importance of choosing the foreign worker and the need they are meant to fulfill.

In addition, in many cases, a different procedure is required for different professions, for example, submitting a request to employ a foreign worker in nursing care. Beyond submitting the appropriate forms and paying the employment levy, there is a need to provide health insurance, national insurance, and pension insurance for the worker, an employment contract for the foreign worker, and so on. It is important to know the rights and obligations of employers in various sectors, the permissible (and prohibited) deductions from the foreign worker’s salary, the social conditions that are important to maintain, and so on.

The implication is that it is highly recommended to start only after fully understanding the process and what it entails, and with the help of a law firm knowledgeable in the field.

In recent years, we have witnessed an increase in enforcement against the employment of illegal foreign workers. The severe implications of the policy change, intended to deter employers from committing the offense of employing a foreign worker without a permit, given the prevalence of such offenses, is that in the last decade, criminal indictments have been filed against employers as a result.

Thus, an employer caught employing a foreign worker without an employment permit in their home or business is summoned for a criminal investigation and is likely to receive an indictment as part of criminal proceedings in the Labor Court. These cases are very common, and immigration authority inspectors even conduct visits and surprise inspections at employers’ premises to check if they are employing according to the law. Enforcement is carried out intensively and sometimes, regrettably, even the rights of suspects are not preserved.

Employing a foreign worker without a permit can therefore lead to a criminal record and criminal punishment, ranging from significant monetary fines, community service, suspended sentences, and up to one year of imprisonment for employing a foreign worker without a permit, violating the worker’s rights, or not maintaining documents required for legally employing the foreign worker.

Another reason to follow the rules is that in recent years, authorities and courts in Israel have shown zero tolerance for cases of employment that are deficient in one aspect or another. Whether the employer is a private individual or a company represented by its managers, the offense of employing a foreign worker without a permit does not make distinctions, and the potential consequences of committing the offense should not be taken lightly. It’s important to remember that ignorance of the regulations does not exempt from punishment, as has indeed been proven in many cases in recent years. On the same principle, it is highly advisable not to be satisfied with meeting the conditions only until receiving the desired approval for employing the foreign worker, but to ensure compliance with regulations throughout the entire process. This is especially important if there are changes in the type of employment, the roles the foreign worker fulfills, the characteristics of the place or person employing them, and so on.

Moreover, even if the employment of the foreign worker without a permit was only temporary and an employment permit was subsequently obtained, employers may still be subject to indictment for an administrative offense of employing a foreign worker without a permit.

Your sole aspiration should be to carry out the employment of the foreign worker by the book, which will prevent penalties or sanctions against you, and of course allow for continued employment over time. But, and this is a very big but, it’s important to prevent a situation where you add insult to injury and completely deny the foreign worker their rights. The rights of an illegal foreign worker should be preserved, at least in part, which may reduce the expected sanctions against the employer when they err in the manner of employment.

The more points of non-standard employment there are, the more severe punishments the person or company carrying it out may experience, and thus their need for legal assistance and representation throughout the process becomes even more crucial.

Zari Hazan & Co. Law Firm specializes in representing employers in cases of employing foreign workers without permits in the fields of nursing, cleaning, gardening, food preparation, and many other areas. Our firm has often succeeded in converting the criminal offense of employing a foreign worker without a permit back to an administrative fine, canceling fines imposed on employers, or significantly reducing them. Professional legal representation in these cases is essential, and in criminal proceedings, our firm has often led to complete acquittal or cancellation of conviction.

Our firm has extensive experience in representing employers in the Labor Court for the offense of employing a foreign worker without a permit, and we provide employers with professional guidance throughout the process to achieve the best solution for you, according to the circumstances of the case.

Our firm has represented various employers on this issue, some with high profiles in the business and public world, and therefore we are aware of the importance of sensitive handling of the matter, due to the implications that a criminal conviction can have regardless of the amount of the fine imposed on the defendant.

It should be emphasized that there is crucial importance in contacting an expert lawyer on the subject immediately upon the arrest of an illegal foreign worker at the employer’s premises, in order to achieve the best legal outcome.

Do you have additional questions about illegally employing a foreign worker? Zari Hazan & Co. Law Firm will accompany you from the first moment, and therefore we recommend consulting with a lawyer specializing in representing employers.

Contacting a lawyer specializing in representing employers in the offense of employing a foreign worker without a permit will allow us to accompany you from the first moment; thus we can help you prepare for police interrogations and recommend the most appropriate legal strategy for your case, in order to reach the best outcome within the circumstances of the case.