"Sabbatical pay for private sector employees in 4 election days cost is NIS 6 billion"

The Manufacturing Association's Economic Research Department reports on Wednesday that it will pay sabbatical pay for private sector employees on four sabbaticals. The cost is NIS 6 billion. This is a local government sabbatical on Saturday, October 30, 2018, two sabbaticals of the April 2019 and September 2019 general elections, and the next expected sabbatical, in the 23rd Knesset elections, which may take place at the end of February 2019.
Consideration also takes into account the employees who exercised their right to vote and also the people who did not go to vote. In addition, foreign workers who have no voting rights are included in the calculation.
According to the Manufacturers Association, the estimate is based on wage cost data for employees, with a distinction between the public and business sectors. In addition, the calculator assumes that all salaried employees are entitled to a full paid day off, and that employees who are employed on the Sabbath day will receive an additional payment of 100%. The total cost to employers in the economy is calculated on the basis of total employees in the economy, whether they took a day off or worked, the association says.
For a long time, the Association of Manufacturers has been arguing that sabbaticals in elections are offensive to the Israeli economy. The Sabbath day is fixed in the Knesset Basic Law and it has been in place since the elections in 1949. As for the local elections, the Sabbath day was first introduced in 2018 in an attempt to raise voting rates.
Changing the Basic Law requires a voting procedure with a majority of 61 MKs, which is almost impossible to achieve at this point. In addition, changing the system shortly before the elections may hurt the voting habits of the Israeli public.
Business Sector President, Shraga Brosh: "The Israeli business sector is not a milking cow of the political system. We demand that the law be amended immediately so that the cost of the fourth election day, at NIS 1.5 billion, will not apply to the business sector. "