May 18, 2012
Israeli Supreme Court tightens equal pay enforcement
Follow JewishJournal.com on 
Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that employers paying men and women different wages must prove that those differences are not due to gender.
The court’s decision stems from a case that began with a woman who was earning 70 percent of the wage of a male colleague at a hardware store chain, the Associated Press reported. Her employer said the woman had requested a lower salary when she applied for the job.
The ruling shifts the burden of proof for gender discrimination to the employer, according Dana Naor-Mande’el, legal adviser to the Israeli Women’s Lobby, which brought the suit.
“An employer cannot hide behind the fact that a woman asked for less money,” she said, according to AP.
Israeli women earn about two-thirds as much as Israeli men, according to a 2009 figure.
