One of the main sources of employment law in Israel can be found in collective employment agreements, typically entered into by Israel’s largest trade unions on the one hand and employer organisations on the other hand. Collective employment agreements exist in certain types of industries and workplaces and may sometimes be extended to protect private sector employees, even if the employees are not members of a union. Israeli employment law has many regulatory extension orders that broaden the applicability of existing collective agreements.

We have extensive experience advising our clients on the effect of any relevant collective employment agreement and representing them in different collective processes, negotiations, disputes and claims. Our expertise includes:

• Advising on drafting and reviewing employment agreements (for individual or self-employed contractors) in order to ensure their compatibility with any applicable employment laws or regulations, or collective employment agreement, as well as advising international clients on common-practice in Israel;
• Negotiating and advising on changing terms and conditions of employment agreements during the course of employment, initiated by the employer or due to statutory and regulatory reform, including vis-à-vis trade unions and litigation, when necessary;
• Advising on terms implied in employment agreements by virtue of an applicable collective agreement (broadly, without union approval, these terms cannot be “contracted out of”);
• Negotiating with trade unions on derogations (or “contracting out”) from provisions of a collective employment agreement applicable to the client’s workplace;
• Advising and assisting clients on the procedure for termination of employees who benefit from or enjoy protections driving from any collective employment agreement;
• Advising clients embarking on a change of control, redundancy programs or changes in work conditions, on any necessary consultation obligations they have vis-à-vis a collective-representative body set out in applicable collective agreement;
• Negotiating collective employment agreements with the representatives of employee unions.