Are There Interns in Israel?

According to the Minimum Wage Law, any worker over the age of 18 is entitled to receive the minimum wage and a part-time employee receives a pro-rata minimum wage. This right cannot be waived, so that a person cannot volunteer to work for free.

In one case, the Court rejected an employer's claim that a Chinese worker waived certain rights because the Court determined that he didn't understand the waiver agreement (he was illiterate in Chinese as well as in Hebrew.)

There is a post about a law firm that "employed" a legal intern for no pay at the IsraPay Blog. He quotes the National Labor Court as follows:

Article 12 of the minimum wage law, 1987, which is a Basic law which cannot be waived or made to be Dependent on other factors. The minimum wage law was meant to prevent employers from taking advantage of groups of workers as well as protect employees from themselves and prevent instances where an employee agrees to work for free because he is in need of a professional mentor.The court determined that even if an intern agrees to work without pay, despite this "agreement" the employer must pay the intern at least minimum wages. This despite the impression that the employer may have that the employee would be willing to work without pay. Even if the employee didn't act wholeheartedly, and even if he sued the employer after leaving his position, this cannot demeanor his rights by law.

The court further determined that in a work relationship between a mentor and an intern, the mentor will always have the upper hand. From the outset this is not an equal relationship. The intern is like a student who approaches his master, as the employer oversees his student's professional manner, guides him and needs to authorize the internship, thereby opening doors to his profession future by allowing him access to the Israeli bar association.

As such, even if the intern agrees to work without pay or for partial pay, this is interpreted as exploitation of the distress of the weak by the employer and not as an insincere action by the employee.

Furthermore, and on the other hand it would be insincere action on the part of the employer to imply or suggest that an employee work for free or at a reduced rate and even if he were presented with such a suggestion from the employee, he should turn it down completely.

It is a given that the wording of the law will not accept a "waiver" of basic employee rights, as minimum wage, even if implied, suggested or agreed upon. It has no consequence whether it is an oral or written agreement or even an understanding or implication because the employee didn't complain about not receiving pay or receiving less than minimum wages.

It also does not matter whether this was done before, during or after employment.

The court rejected the appeal and charged the employer with the court fees as well.

According to the Labor Law website Ovdim here and here, some of the factors that imply that a worker is a "volunteer" include:

Who May Give Legal Advice

Before discussing anything else, we need to start at the beginning.


According to Israeli Law, who may give legal advice and in what circumstances must you be represented by a lawyer?

According to the law establishing and governing the Israel Bar Association only a lawyer may perform the following actions for pay or barter:

1. Represent or act on behalf of another person in front of courts, tribunals, arbitrators or others vested with judicial authority
2. Represent or act on behalf of another person in front of various government agencies including the Collection Enforcement Agency, the Land Registry Office, the Officer in charge of enforcement of the Condominium Act of 1952, the Registrar of Companies, the Registrar of Partnerships, the Registrar of Patents and Designs, the Registrar of Copyrights...
3. Prepare legal documents on behalf of another person including represent another person in negotiations of the terms of such a document
4. Give legal advice or issue legal opinions.

Like any good law there are exceptions. The aforementioned rules do not apply to:

1. The Attorney General and his staff
2. Proceedings before religious or military tribunals
3. A proceeding before a tribunal that had been specifically exempted by law from the aforementioned rules
4. A patent agent's powers under the Ordinances of Patents, Designs, and Trademarks
5. An accountant's authority to fulfill his legally permitted duties
6. Representation of an organization of employees or employers or one of their members in labor arbitration or contract negotiations
7. Offering a legal opinion when asked by an attorney or government official 
8. Representation during arbitration of a foreign person or company by a foreigner who is qualified as an attorney in his country of residence.

Exception #7 seems odd. At face value it would mean that as long as an attorney asked a non-attorney for a legal opinion, the non-attorney may prepare such an opinion. A critical reader at one website has noticed this and the attorney on the website did not provide a satisfactory explanation of this loophole. On this site, however, I saw that someone notes that this provision is meant to cover law clerks or legal assistants who will pass their legal opinions on to the supervising attorney to review. Thus, ultimately it is a qualified attorney who issues the final opinion.


With this introduction in place, we can make the following disclaimer:
This blog is for information purposes only; it is not a source for legal advice. We do not accept any liability to any person who does rely on the content of this website.