DISCHARGED SOLDIERS (REINSTATEMENT IN EMPLOYMENT) LAW, 5709-1949*
	PART ONE: INTERPRETATION
Military service and part-time service.	1. For the purposes of this Law, "military service" means: (1) full-time service in the Defence Army of Israel; (2) any other service which the Minister of Defence, by declaration published in Reshumot, declares to be military service. (b) "Part-time service", for the purposes of this Law, means service which the Minister of Defence, by declaration in Reshumot, declares to be part-time service. (c) Service which the Minister of Defence has declared as aforesaid to be military service or part-time service shall be deemed to be such service as from the 17th Kislev, 5708 (30th November, 1947), unless the Minister of Defence, in his declaration, has prescribed a later date.
Soldier, discharged soldier and war invalid.	2. (a) "Soldier", for the purposes of this Law, means a person on military service who was on military service on the 17th Kislev, 5708 (30th November, 1947), or enlisted thereafter. (b) A soldier who was on military service on the 17th Kislev, 5708 (30th November, 1947) shall be deemed to have enlisted on that day. (c) "Discharged soldier", for the purposes of this Law, means a person who has been a soldier and has been discharged from the service. (d) "War invalid", for the purposes of this Law, means a discharged soldier, or a person who has been on part-time service, whose state of health was affected by illness or injury during his military service or part-time service, as the case may be, with the result that his capacity for work which he would otherwise be capable of doing is materially impaired.
Undertaking and owner of undertaking.	3. (a) "Undertaking", for the purposes of this Law, means any place of employment in which at least one person is employed, whether it is maintained for purposes of profit or for other purposes, and whether it belongs to the State, a local authority, a public institution or a corporate body or is privately owned; (b) "Owner of the undertaking" in relation to a soldier or discharged soldier, means the owner of the undertaking in which the soldier or the discharged soldier was employed immediately before his enlistment ; and if the undertaking has changed hands or has been amalgamated with or become part of another undertaking, the owner for the time being or the owner after the amalgamation or the owner of the other undertaking, as the case may be, shall be regarded as the owner of the undertaking. (c) "Owner of the undertaking", in relation to a person on part-time service, means the owner of the undertaking in which he was employed at the time of his part-time service.
Permanent employee.	4. (a) For the purposes of this Law, "permanent employee in an undertaking" means : (1) an employee who has been employed in that undertaking for at least six consecutive months; or (2) an employee who, by the custom prevailing in the undertaking or branch of employment in which he is employed or by the terms of the collective or other contract of employment, is regarded as a permanent employee or regular seasonal employee, even if he has been employed in the undertaking for less than six consecutive months. (b) Continuity of employment shall not be deemed to have been broken by absence owing to maternity leave, annual leave, festival leave or any other leave, vacation or rest granted with the consent of the employer, or owing to the First of May, a strike, lock-out or labour accident or any temporary or accidental break for reasons beyond the employee's control.
Labour exchange.	5. "Labour exchange", in relation to any undertaking, means the General Labour Exchange supervised by the Minister of Labour and Social Insurance within whose area of operation the undertaking is situated.
	PART TWO : REINSTATEMENT IN EMPLOYMENT
Duty of reinstate- ment.	6. (a) Where, immediately before his enlistment, a discharged soldier was a permanent employee in any undertaking, the owner of the undertaking shall, in accordance with the provisions of this Part -- (1) re-employ him in the work in which he was employed immediately before his enlistment, on terms not inferior to those on which he would have been employed in such work had he not enlisted; or -- (2) if it is impracticable to employ him in such work and on such terms as aforesaid - employ him in the best work and on the best terms practicable. (b) This section shall not apply to a discharged soldier who before his enlistment received compensation for dismissal from the owner of the undertaking or who received such compensation after his enlistment under a bona-fide agreement with the owner of the undertaking.
Application for reinstate- ment.	7. (a) An application for reinstatement shall be made to the owner of the undertaking in writing either by the discharged soldier or by the employees' organization to which he belongs or by the employees' organization to which the largest number of employees in the undertaking belong, within fifteen days before or thirty days after the day of the discharge of the discharged soldier; but no such application shall be invalidated by reason only that it was not made within the prescribed time owing to illness of the discharged soldier or any other sufficient cause, provided that it was made within thirty days after the hindrance ceased. (b) The application shall specify a day, within thirty days of the day on which it is made, on which the discharged soldier is prepared to start work. (c) A copy of the application shall be forwarded to the labour exchange and to the committee, if any, of the employees in the undertaking.
Date of re- instatement.	8. (a) The owner of the undertaking shall reinstate the discharged soldier, as provided in section 6, on the day specified in the application as the day on which the discharged soldier is prepared to start work, or - where reinstatement of the discharged soldier on such day is impracticable - on a later date within one year from the day of the submission of the application, as soon as reinstatement of the discharged soldier as aforesaid is practicable. (b) If, upon expiration of one year from the day of the submission of the application, a proceeding with regard to such application is pending before an employment committee or appeal committee, the duty of the owner of the undertaking to reinstate the discharged solider as aforesaid shall continue for thirty days from the day on which the proceeding is concluded ; a proceeding before an employment committee shall be regarded as pending until the period of appeal has elapsed or, where an appeal has been lodged, until a decision is given thereon or until the appellant withdraws his appeal. (c) Where the owner of the undertaking has notified the discharged soldier in writing that he may start work on the day specified in the application as the day on which he is prepared to start work, or on a later day as provided in sub-section (a), and the discharged soldier does not start work within thirty days from that day, the right of the discharged soldier to be reinstated under section 6 shall cease; provided that it shall not cease if illness or any other sufficient cause prevented him from starting work within the prescribed time and he is prepared to start work within thirty days from the day on which the hindrance ceased.
Duty of employment.	9. (a) Where a discharged soldier has been reinstated under section 6, the owner of the undertaking shall employ him for six months from the day of his reinstatement or for a shorter period, as long as practicable -- (1) in work and on terms not inferior, in relation to the discharged soldier, to the work and terms in or on which he was first re-employed ; or (2) where employment in such work and on such terms is impracticable - in the best work and on the best terms in or on which it is practicable to employ him. (b) Where a discharged soldier is employed under section 6 in work other than that in which he was employed immediately before his enlistment, and within six months from the day of his reinstatement it becomes practicable to employ him in work in which he was employed as aforesaid, the owner of the undertaking shall so employ him. (c) So long as the owner of the undertaking is bound to employ a discharged soldier as aforesaid, he shall not dismiss him save on grounds of gross misconduct. (d) Upon expiration of six months from the day on which a discharged soldier was reinstated, such law, custom and terms of a collective or other contract of employment as apply to the dismissal of employees in the undertaking shall apply also to him.
Priority of reinstate- ment.	10. (a) Where several applications for reinstatement have been made to the owner of one undertaking and it is impracticable to reinstate all the applicants at the same time, the labour exchange shall fix priorities for their reinstatement. (b) Within three days from the day on which the decision of the labour exchange comes to his notice, the owner of the undertaking may appeal against it to an employment committee on the ground that economic necessity calls for a revision of the decision. The decision of the employment committee shall be final.
Practicabil- ity.	11. (a) In determining whether anything is or is not practicable, the following factors only shall be taken into account : (1) radical changes which have occurred in the undertaking, since the enlistment of the discharged soldier, as a result of damage to buildings or equipment or of qualitative alterations in production processes or of a considerable reduction, other than a seasonal or occasional one, of the scope of the work ; (2) an illness or disability contracted by the discharged soldier since his enlistment and materially reducing his working capacity. (b) The reinstatement or employment of a discharged soldier shall be considered practicable even where it is possible only if an employee who started work in the undertaking after the enlistment of the discharged soldier or - where the scope of the work has been reduced since the enlistment of the discharged soldier - whose rights under the priority regulations of the labour exchange are lesser than those of the discharged soldier, cedes his place to him. (c) Whenever the question arises whether anything is practicable, the owner of the undertaking shall have to prove that it is not practicable.
Seniority rights.	12. Where a discharged soldier is reinstated under section 6 in an undertaking in which an employee or former employee is granted rights dependent on length of service - whether by law, custom or terms of a collective or other contract of employment or in any other manner - the period between his enlistment and his reinstatement as aforesaid shall, for the purpose of calculating length of service, be deemed to be a period of employment in the undertaking.
Discharged soldier re- instated otherwise than on application.	13. Where immediately before his enlistment, a discharged soldier was a permanent employee in an undertaking, and after his discharge he starts working there again otherwise than on application under section 7, he shall be deemed to be a discharged soldier reinstated on application as aforesaid.
	PART THREE : RIGHT OF RELATIVES OF DECEASED SOLDIERS AND WAR INVALIDS TO EMPLOYMENT
Interpreta- tion.	14. (a) For the purposes of this Part, the relatives of a person are the following : (1) his spouse ; (2) children, including step-children, who at the qualifying date were dependent on him ; (3) parents who at the qualifying date were dependent on him to the extent of at least fifty per cent or who immigrated into Israel after the qualifying date. (b) "Persons who died on service", within the meaning of this Part, are the following : (1) a soldier who died in the period of his military service; (2) a discharged soldier who died within one year from the day of his discharge as a result of illness contracted or aggravated, or injury sustained, in the period of military service; (3) a person who died while on part-time service; (4) a person who died within one year from the day of his part-time service as a result of illness contracted or aggravated, or injury sustained, during his part-time service. (c) "Qualifying date" means -- (1) in the case of a soldier or discharged soldier - the time immediately preceeding his enlistment; (2) in the case of a person on part-time service - the time of his part-time service.
Duty to employ relative.	15. (a) Where a person who at the qualifying date was a permanent employee in an undertaking died on service or has become a war invalid, the owner of the undertaking shall, in accordance with the provisions of this Part, employ one relative of that person if such relative is suitable for the work in which that person was employed at the qualifying date or for any other employment available in the undertaking. (b) This section shall not apply where, at the qualifying date, the person who died on service or has become a war invalid received compensation for dismissal from the owner of the undertaking or where, after the qualifying date, that person or his successors received compensation for dismissal under a bona-fide agreement with the owner of the undertaking.
Application.	16. (a) A relative claiming the right to employment in an undertaking under section 15 shall make an application to the owner of the undertaking through the labour exchange. (b) The application shall be made -- (1) In the case of a relative of a soldier who died during the period of his military service or of a person who died while on part-time service - within three months from the day on which the news of the death was received ; (2) in the case of a relative of any other person who died on service - within three months from the day of the death ; (3) in the case of a relative of a war invalid who is a discharged soldier - within three months from the day of the discharge ; (4) in the case of a relative of a war invalid who was on part-time service - within three months from the day on which the medical treatment of the war invalid was completed. (c) An application shall not be invalidated by reason only that it was not made within the prescribed time if the delay was due to a sufficient cause and the application was made within thirty days after the hindrance ceased. (d) The application shall specify a day, within thirty days of the day on which it is made, on which the applicant is prepared to start work.
Power of labour exchange.	17. (a) Where several relatives of the same person claim the right to be employed in an undertaking under section 15, the labour exchange shall determine to which of them such right shall be granted, and its decision shall not be disputed. (b) In determining the relative to whom such right as aforesaid shall be granted, the labour exchange shall have regard to the economic position of all the relatives.
Status of relative.	18. Sections 8, 9, 10, 11 and 13 shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to a relative entitled to employment in an undertaking under section 15, as though he were a discharged soldier entitled to employment in that undertaking under section 6.
	PART FOUR : RIGHT OF A DISCHARGED SOLDIER WHO WAS A TEMPORARY EMPLOYEE
Priority right.	19. (a) A discharged soldier who immediately before his enlistment was a temporary employee in an undertaking shall, within one year from the day of his discharge, have priority of employment in that undertaking. (b) "Temporary employee in an undertaking", for the purposes of this section, means a person, not being a permanent employee, who was employed therein for at least four consecutive weeks ; continuity of employment shall not be considered as broken by absence from work in any of the cases specified in section 4(b).
	PART FIVE : PARTICULARS OF IMPLEMENTATION
Employment committees.	20. (a) The Minister of Defence shall appoint employment committees for the purposes of this Law. (b) An employment committee may be appointed either generally or for a particular area or branch of employment. (c) Every employment committee shall consist of three members, of whom one shall be appointed chairman ; another shall be appointed from among candidates proposed by the employees' organization representing the largest number of employees in the State, and the third from among candidates proposed by representative employers' organizations in the State. (d) Notice of the appointment and address of an employment committee shall be published in Reshumot.
Powers of employment committee.	21. (a) A person (thereinafter referred to as "the claimant"), who claims that this Law grants him rights and that these rights are prejudiced may, within a reasonable time, apply to an employment committee for a decision as to any matter relating to such rights. (b) An employment committee shall, as far as possible, hear and determine an application within fifteen days from the day on which it is made. (c) Where an employment committee finds that the owner of an undertaking has not fulfilled a duty imposed on him by this Law with regard to the claimant, it may issue against such owner (hereinafter referred to as "the defendant") one or both of the following orders, or one of them at the option of the defendant: (1) an order to employ the claimant on such terms, from such time and in such place as the employment committee may prescribe ; (2) on order to pay to the claimant an amount specified in the order as compensation for loss caused to the claimant by the defendant's failure to fulfil a duty imposed on him by this Law with regard to the claimant ; the amount of the compensation shall be equal to the amount of pay which, in the opinion of the employment committee, the claimant would have received if the defendant had fulfilled his duty and employed the claimant throughout the period during which he was bound to employ him.
Appeal committees.	22. (a) Appeal committees, appointed by the Minister of Defence, shall be established for the purpose of hearing appeals from decisions and orders of employment committees. (b) An appeal committee may be appointed either generally or for a particular area or branch of employment. (c) Every appeal committee shall consist of three members appointed in like manner as the members of the employment committees, except that the chairman of an appeal committee shall be a District Court Judge appointed on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice. (d) Notice of the appointment and address of an appeal committee shall be published in Reshumot.
Right of appeal.	23. (a) Any decision or order of an employment committee may be appealed to an appeal committee within ten days from the day on which notice of the decision or order is served on the claimant and the defendant. (b) The right of appeal is granted -- (1) to the claimant ; (2) to the defendant ; (3) to the employees' organization which the claimant belongs ; (4) to the employees' organization to which the largest number of employees in the defendant's undertaking belongs ; (5) to the employers' organization to which the defendant belongs. (c) A hearing before an appeal committee shall not begin before the expiration of the period of appeal, and where more than one appeal has been filed in the same matter, all the appeals relating to the matter shall be joined and be heard together. (d) An appeal committee shall, as far as possible, hear and determine any appeal within fifteen days from the expiration of the period of appeal.
Powers of appeal committee.	24. An appeal committee may dismiss the appeal or annul the decision or order appealed against and make any decision or order which an employment committee is competent to make.
Advisers.	25. (a) The Minister of Labour and Social Insurance may appoint an advisor to every employment committee and appeal committee. (b) Notice of any appointment under this section shall be published in Reshumot. (c) Where an adviser has been appointed to an employment committee or appeal committee, the chairman of such committee shall notify the adviser in time of the date of any hearing before the committee. (d) The adviser may take part in all the proceedings of the committee in an advisory capacity.
Auxiliary powers.	26. (a) An employment committee or appeal committee shall have the like powers as a commission of enquiry appointed under the Commissions of Enquiry Ordinance(1) and which has been granted all the powers that such a commission of enquiry may be granted under section 5 of that Ordinance. (b) Employment committees and appeal committees shall not be bound by niceties of procedure or rules of evidence, but shall act in such a manner as seems to them most expedient for clarifying the points at issue. (c) Every employment committee or appeal committee shall take its decision by majority vote. (d) Every employment committee or appeal committee shall itself preserve its rules of procedure and order of business in so far as these are not prescribed by this Law or by regulations made thereunder.
Non-com- pliance with order of employment.	27. (a) Where a person (hereafter in this section referred to as "the employer") has been ordered by an employment committee or appeal committee to employ a person (hereafter in this section referred to as "the employee") from a specific date, on specific terms and in specific work, and he has failed to comply with such order, he shall -- (1) pay the employee compensation for the loss caused to him by such non-compliance ; the amount of the compensation shall be equal to the amount of pay which the employee would have received if the employer had complied with the order and employed the employee throughout the period during which he was bound to employ him ; and (2) be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty Israel pounds. (b) Compensation under subsection (a) (1) may be claimed by the employee from the employer by way of an ordinary civil claim. (c) In an action for an offence under subsection (a) (2), the employee has the right to plead and to call and examine witnesses, and in the event of a conviction the Court may, on the application of the employee, order the accused, in addition to such fine as may be imposed on him, to pay the employee the compensation due to him under subsection (a) (1), and such order shall, with regard to any matter relating to its execution, be treated like a final judgment of a competent court. (d) No civil or criminal action shall be brought under this section for non-compliance with an order of an employment committee until the period of appeal against the order has elapsed or, where an appeal has been filed, until a decision has been given on the appeal or the appeal has been withdrawn.
Execution of order of payment.	28. (a) Where an employment committee or appeal committee has made an order requiring a person to pay another person an amount as compensation, such order shall be final immediately upon being registered by the Minister of Defence in a register kept specially for this purpose and, with regard to any matter relating to its execution, shall be treated like a final judgment of a competent court. (b) Notice of the registration of an order as aforesaid shall be served on the parties. (c) The Minister of Defence shall not register an order of an employment committee in a register as aforesaid until the period of appeal against the order has elapsed or, where an appeal has been filed, until a decision has been given on the appeal or the appeal has been withdrawn.
Status of person reinstated under an order.	29. A claimant employed by virtue of an order of an employment committee or appeal committee shall be deemed to be employed in accordance with the provisions of this Law applying to him.
Competence of Court.	30. No action, whether civil or criminal, shall be brought against a person in any court in connection with any duty imposed on him by this Law, save where such action is expressly authorized by this Law or by regulations made thereunder.
	PART SIX : WAR INVALIDS AND PRIORITY RIGHTS TO EMPLOYMENT
Regulations as to war invalids.	31. The Minister of Defence, with the consent of the Minister of Labour and Social Insurance, may make regulations -- (a) requiring employers or particular classes of employers to employ war invalids in such proportion or numbers as prescribed in the regulations ; (b) reserving specific kinds of work in undertakings, or specific occupations, for war invalids ; (c) prescribing rules for the acceptance of war invalids for employment and the conditions of their employment ; (d) prescribing the procedure and conditions of the registration of war invalids and the modes of determining their aptitude for work ; (e) establishing competent authorities to deal with matters relating to the employment of war invalids, and defining the powers thereof.
Orders relating to war invalids.	32. The Minister of Defence may from time to time, by general or specific order, call upon employers or particular classes of employers to employ war invalids in such proportion or numbers as prescribed in the order.
Regulations as to priority right to employment.	33. The Minister of Defence, with the consent of the Minister of Labour and Social Insurance and after consultation with the Central Board of the General Labour Exchanges, may make regulations -- (a) prescribing that during the period of the military service of a soldier one relative of such soldier shall have priority of employment in the undertaking in which the soldier was employed immediately before his enlistment ; (b) prescribing that discharged soldiers shall have priority of employment ; (c) providing for the enforcement of the said priority rights.
Application of certain Parts.	34. The provisions of Parts Two, Three, Four and Five shall not apply to regulations and orders made under this Park ; but the term "relative" shall have the same meaning in this Part as is assigned to it in section 14.
	PART SEVEN : MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Priority of claim in case of bankruptcy.	35. (a) Among the debts which, under section 33 of the Bankruptcy Ordinance, 1936(2), must be paid in priority to all other debts of a bankrupt, there shall be included any amount which the bankrupt has been ordered to pay under this Law as compensation for an act or omission which occurred before a receiving order was made against him, even if the order of payment was made after the receiving order. (b) Among the debts which, in the winding-up of a company, cooperative society or other juristic person, are required by law to be paid in priority to all other debts, there shall be included any amount which the company, cooperative society or other juristic body has been ordered to pay under this Law as compensation for an act or omission which occurred before the commencement of the winding-up, even if the order of payment was made after such commencement. (c) Where a receiver has been appointed on behalf of the holders of debentures of a company secured by a floating charge, or where the holders of such debentures, or their attorneys, have taken possession of property of the company subject to the charge, any amount which the company has been ordered to pay under this Law as compensation for an act or omission which occurred before the date of the appointment of a receiver or the taking possession of property, as aforesaid, shall be included among the debts which under section 134 of the Companies Ordinance(3) have priority over any claim for principal or interest in respect of the debentures, even if the order of payment was made after the said date.
Contributions to provident funds, etc.	36. (a) Where a soldier, immediately before his enlistment, was employed in an undertaking, and the owner of the undertaking and his employees, or only the owner, were or was accustomed to pay contributions to a provident fund, pensions fund or other similar fund (hereinafter referred to as "the fund"), the owner and the soldier, or only the owner, as the case may be, shall, during the period from the day of the enlistment of the soldier to the day of his reinstatement in the undertaking under this Law or, where he is not reinstated under this Law, to the day of his discharge, pay contributions to the fund a the rates at which they or he were or was accustomed to pay before the enlistment of the soldier : but nothing in this section shall affect the provisions of section 12. (b) Where a soldier did not pay his contributions during the period mentioned in subsection (a), such fact shall not derogate from the duty of the owner of the undertaking to pay the contributions due from him, but the soldier shall pay his contributions, or such balance thereof as has not been paid, after his discharge, within a period three times as long as the period of his military service, and the owner of the undertaking may make his parallel payments simultaneously with the payments of the soldier. (c) Any amount which the owner of the undertaking or the soldier is bound to pay to the fund shall in all respects be regarded as a payment legally due to the fund. (d) If the owner of an undertaking enlists for military service and the undertaking ceases to operate for the whole or a part of the period of his service, this section shall not apply to such owner and his employees in respect of the period for which the undertaking ceases to operate as aforesaid.
Evasion of duties imposed by this Law.	37. (a) Where an employer, with intent to evade any of the duties imposed on him by this Law, dismisses an employee liable to enlistment for military service, or due to be so liable in the near future, and after his dismissal the employee enlists, such dismissal shall have no legal effect with regard to rights and duties under this Law, and all the rights of the employee thereunder shall subsist as though he had not been dismissed, but had continued to be employed by that employer until immediately before his enlistment. (b) The onus of proving that the dismissal was not effected with intent to evade any duties imposed on the employer by this Law shall be on the employer.
Retroactive application.	38. (a) This Law shall apply to a discharged soldier discharged before the day of the coming into force of this Law as though he had been discharged on that day ; but where, immediately before his enlistment, such a discharged soldier was a permanent employee in an undertaking, and on the day of the coming into force of this Law he is employed in that undertaking, he shall, for the purposes of this Law, be deemed to have been reinstated on that day under section 6. (b) This Law shall apply to a person who became a war invalid before the day of the coming into force of this Law as though his medical treatment had been completed on that day. (c) This Law shall apply to relatives of a person who died on service, as specified in section 14, before the day of the coming into force of this Law as though he had died on service on that day.
Re-enlistment.	39. Where a discharged soldier re-enlists within three months from the day of his discharge, his earlier period of service shall be deemed to continue without a break until the termination of his second period of service.
Various facilities.	40. (a) The Minister charged with the implementation of any law may, after consultation with the Minister of Defence and the Minister of Labour and Social Insurance, make regulations -- (1) with the object of exempting discharged soldiers or war invalids or a particular class thereof, wholly or in part, from the requirements of such law or from any duties, conditions or restrictions imposed thereunder ; (2) granting discharged soldiers or war invalids or a particular class thereof priority in obtaining licences to engage in any profession, industry, craft or trade. (b) For the purposes of this section, a Minister is considered as charged with the implementation of a law if he is expressly designated therein as the Minister charged with its implementation or, in the case of any Ordinance or regulations in force on the 5th Iyar, 5708 (14th May, 1948), if he is vested with the powers previously vested in the High Commissioner or the High Commissioner in Council by such Ordinance or regulations. (c) Regulations made by a Minister under this section shall prevail over any other law. (d) "Minister", in this section, includes the Prime Minister.
Right of permanent employee on part-time service.	41. (a) Where a permanent employee in an undertaking is absent from work by reason of part-time service and receives no pay for his part-time service, or the pay for his part-time service is less than his normal wages, he his entitled to receive from the owner of the undertaking, in respect of the days of his absence, his normal wages or the difference between his normal wages and the pay for his part-time service, as the case may be : provided that the owner of an undertaking shall not have to pay an employee wages or a balance of wages for more than twelve days in three months. (b) "Normal wages" means the wages payable to an employee for a normal working day, without overtime. (c) Wages due to an employee under section (a) shall, as to any matter relating to a legal action, be considered as a civil debt. (d) Absence of a permanent employee from work in an undertaking by reason of part-time service shall not be considered as breaking the continuity of his employment in the undertaking even if the period of such absence exceeds twelve days in three months. (e) If an employer dismisses an employee with intent to evade any of the duties imposed on him by this section, such dismissal shall be considered unlawful.
Evidence.	42. (a) A certificate signed by a competent military authority attesting that a person has served on military service or part-time service, and specifying the dates of such service, shall, in any proceeding under this Law, be conclusive proof of its content. (b) A certificate signed by two medical officers attesting that a person died on service or is a war invalid shall, in any proceeding under this Law, be evidence of such fact so long as the contrary is not proved. (c) (1) "Competent military authority" means the Chief of the General Staff and any person appointed by him to be a competent military authority for the purposes of this section. (2) "Medical officer" means an officer of the Defence Army of Israel authorised to practice medicine under the Medical Practitioners Ordinance, 1947(4), and appointed by the Chief of the General Staff to be a medical officer for the purposes of this section. (d) A document purporting to be a certificate as mentioned in subsection (a) or (b) shall be considered as such a certificate so long as the contrary is not proved. (e) A document purporting to be a copy of a decision or order of an employment committee or appeal committee, certified as a true copy by the Minister of Defence or a person authorised by him in that behalf, shall, in any proceeding, be evidence of such decision or order so long as the contrary is not proved. (f) Where, in a civil or criminal action arising from non-compliance with an order of an employment committee or appeal committee, it is proved that an order as aforesaid was made against a person of a name like that of the defendant or accused, such order shall, so long as the contrary is not proved, be considered to have been made against the defendant or accused.
Saving of rights.	43. (a) This Law - (1) shall not affect any law, custom or contract of employment, collective or otherwise, relating to the conditions of the dismissal and resignation of employees and their rights in connection therewith ; (2) shall add to any rights connected with employment, and shall not be construed to affect any law, custom or contract of employment, collective or otherwise, or to derogate therefrom ; (b) The following shall be regarded as dismissed employees for the purpose of establishing their rights in connection with dismissal : (1) a discharged soldier entitled to reinstatement under section 6 who has made an application under section 7 but has not been reinstated ; (2) a war invalid who at the qualifying date was an employee in an undertaking and has not returned to work therein ; (3) a person who died on service, as specified in section 14, and who at the qualifying date had been a permanent employee in an undertaking.
Implementa- tion and regulations.	44. (a) The Minister of Defence is charged with the implementation of this Law. (b) The Minister of Defence, with the consent of the Minister of Labour and Social Insurance, may make regualtaions as to any matter relating to the implementation of this Law ; but this provision shall not affect the provisions of sections 31 and 33.
Commissioner for the Employment of Discharged Soldiers.	45. (a) The Minister of Defence may appoint a person to be Commissioner for the Employment of Discharged Soldiers. (b) The Minister of Defence may delegate to the Commissioner for the Employment of Discharged Soldiers all or any of the powers conferred on him by this Law, except those conferred by sections 22, 31, 33 and 44. (c) Any appointment or delegation of powers under this section shall be published in Reshumot and shall take effect on the day of publication unless its terms fix a later date for this purpose.
Commence- ment.	46. This Law shall come into force on the 16th Iyar, 5709 (15th May, 1949).
	------------------------------------ * Passed by the Knesset on the 26th Nisan, 5709 (25th April, 1949) and published in Sefer Ha-Chukkim No. 6 of the 27th Nisan, 5709 (26th April, 1949), p. 13; the Bill and an Explanatory Note were published in Hatza'ot Chok No. 3, of the 21st Adar, 5709 (22nd March, 1949), p. 7. (1) Laws of Palestine vol. I, cap. 21, p. 157 (English Edition). (2) P.G. No. 566 of the 24th January, 1936, Suppl. I, p. 21 (English Edition). (3) Laws of Palestine vol. I, cap. 22, p. 166 (English Edition). (4) P.G. No. 1637 of the 30th December, 1947, Suppl. I, P. 322 (English Edition).

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SOURCE: "Laws of the State of Israel: Authorized Translation from the Hebrew, Volume 3". Government Printer, Jerusalem, Israel (1948-1987), pp. 10-21.

(C) Israel Law Resource Center, February, 2007.