Challenging Age Discrimination against Job-Seekers

In June 2007, ACRI submitted a petition to the Supreme Court demanding that the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Labor cease to post discriminatory job postings through its national employment service. ACRI emphasized that discrimination against job candidates on the basis of age is strictly forbidden by the Equal Opportunities at Work Law and is a criminal offense. By agreeing to accept and consider discriminatory requests by employers, the Employment Service Bureau and its staff are perpetuating discrimination that is already rampant in the Israeli job market. In a hearing on the petition in April 2008, the Employment Service Bureau pledged to end the practice of posting job postings that perpetuate age discrimination. This constitutes an important milestone in ACRI’s lengthy struggle to combat the unlawful phenomenon of age discrimination against job seekers that is prevalent in the Israeli labor market.