One in eight Israelis paid less than minimum wage

Minimum wage rule violations are more common in Israel than in most other Western countries, affecting 33 percent of all businesses in the agricultural sector and 22.7 percent of those in the hospitality and food services sector, a new study has found.

The study, conducted by the National Insurance Institute, is based on data from 2011.

It found that overall, between 10.7 and 12.2 percent of Israeli businesses violate the Minimum Wage Law (the former figure is based on data from the NII’s survey of household expenditure, and the latter from its survey of household income).

Canada is the only Western country with a higher rate of minimum wage violations. Even Spain, which is suffering a severe economic crisis, had a lower rate of violations than Israel.

New immigrants are the group most likely to suffer minimum wage violations, followed by single people, non-Jews and women. Married, native-born Jewish men are the least likely to suffer violations.

The minimum wage is currently NIS 4,300 per month, or NIS 23.12 per hour.