Safed city engineer compensated with NIS 250,000 for wage discrimination

Cheli Tal worked as the city engineer since 2014, soon after which she discovered that she was being paid considerably less than her male equals working within the municipality.

DECEMBER 6, 2019 03:10

Tsfat municipality (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons) — Tsfat municipality

(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)

The Safed city engineer was compensated with NIS 250,000 after receiving a lower salary than was due because of discrimination against her for being a woman.

Cheli Tal worked as the city engineer since 2014, soon after which she discovered that she was being paid considerably less than her male equals working within the municipality.

Her salary was set to be 70% of the CEO of a local authority.

When Tal initially turned to the municipality management, her complaint was welcome, with the municipality CEO permitting to update her salary. When the time came, however, she did not receive a salary boost nor a compensation for the years she was working for the municipality.

At the same time, three senior male officials in the municipality received a substantial raise.

The Women's International Zionist Organization (WIZO) represented Tal when her demands were not met and filed a lawsuit in May in Tal's name.

The two sides eventually settled on NIS 250,000 to be given to Tal, as well as a raise to the maximum salary permitted by law.

"Miss Tal's lawsuit reflects the sad social situation in which time after time, women are faced with huge wage gaps in the labor market," said WIZO Israel Director of Legal Assistance for the Advancement of the Status of Women Uri Turkia-Schles. "The discrimination against women across sectors, jobs and fields raises its ugly head facing women at all ends of the labor market."

Turkia-Schles additionally said that in 2019, the average wage gap between men and women stands at 32%.

"The case of the Safed city engineer proves again that discrimination against women is not unique to certain jobs or places... but rather occurs among the highest ranks and in public authorities, which are supposed to abide by the law more than anyone," Turkia-Schles said.

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WIZO operates a legal aid system to assist women in receiving their rights.