12 October 2022; MEMO: Israel has been ranked as the fifth worst country in the world to work in, according to a report by the international insurance firm, William Russell.
The firm compiled a list of countries with the least favourable employment conditions, ranking each based on a score from 0 to 10.
The report explained that the average person in Israel works extremely high working hours, resulting in almost 36.6 hours per week.
Moreover, workers are given a minimum of only 12 days of annual paid leave, with an estimated salary of $42,089.
Mexico, which was given a score of 0.47 out of 10 points for labour and employment, ranked the highest on the list due to "low wages, lack of annual leave and public holidays, as well as long working hours and systematic violations of workers' rights."
The United States followed next, with a score of 2.37 due to the lack of guaranteed maternity leave, paid holidays and annual leave.
Greece came third in the list, with a score of 2.89 due to low salaries, long working hours and the lack of protection of workers' rights. Next is South Korea, with a score of 3.23 and then, Israel, with a score of 3.62.
Meanwhile, the countries ranked the best to work in, in order are: Denmark, Finland and Norway.
"Denmark combines average high salaries with low working hours, well-protected workers' rights, and a minimum of 25 days of annual leave," according to William Russell, while Finland has "a particularly high score on the Labour Rights Index, indicating that Finland really is a country that cares about the average worker."
Israel's Labour Rights Index has a low score of 69, in contrast to Finland, for example, which has a score of 93. The Labour Rights Index measures employment regulation affecting employees worldwide.
