Questions on education and work
[Questions 43-58 asked of persons aged 15 or older]
47. Did you work, even one hour, during the week ending December 27, 2008?
[] 1 Worked (Go to Question No. 52)
[] 2 Was on compulsory army duty (not including reserve duty) (Go to Question No. 51)
[] 3 Was in the regular army (Go to Question No. 51)
[] 4 Didn't work
48. Do you have a job or business from which you were absent the whole week ending December 27, 2008, due to illness, vacation, army reserve duty?
1 [] Yes (Go to Question No. 52)
2 [] No
49. Did you actively seek work during December?
For example, through an employment exchange, newspaper ads, the internet, application to an Employer
[] 1 Yes
[] 2 No (Go to Question No. 51)
50. If you were offered suitable work, could you have started working the week ending December 27, 2008?
[] 1 Yes
[] 2 No
Part H: Work
3. Instructions for answering questions :
Questions for examining work in 2008:
The first group of questions about 'work' helps determine whether a person worked in 2008 and allows us to estimate the amount of labor force at the household's disposal.
a. Work during the week that ended on the determining date
The goal of this question is to sort people into three groups: those who worked during the week that ended on 12/27/2008, those who did not work that week, and those who were in (mandatory or career) military service in the IDF.
Question 7.10 Did you work at least one hour during the week that ended on 12/27/2008?
Enumerator, please note: do not include a housewife's work at her house and volunteer work.
[] 1 Worked
[] 2 Was in mandatory military service in the IDF (not including reserve duty)
[] 3 Was in career military service in the IDF
[] 4 Did not work
- It is enough for a person to have worked one hour during the week that ended on 12/27/2008, in order to be considered as if he had worked.
- The term 'week that ended on 12/27/2008' refers to a whole week, i.e. from Sunday to the end of Saturday 12/27/2008.
- Do not include a housewife's work in her home and volunteer work.
b. Absent from workplace
Absent from workplace are persons who had a workplace in the week that ended on 12/27/2008, but for various reasons did not work that week.
The information from this question is meant to distinguish between people who did not work during the week that ended in 12/27/2008 because they were temporarily away from their workplace for various reasons, e.g. illness, vacation, reserve duty (and are considered 'absent'), and people who did not work during the week that ended on 12/27/2008 because they don't have a workplace and do not work at all.
Question 7.20 - Do you have a job or business from which you were absent for the entire week that ended on 12/27/2008 due to illness, vacation, reserve duty?
[] 1 Yes
[] 2 No
-Examples of people who are considered as 'absent from workplace' can be found further on in this chapter, in paragraph 4.b.
c. Job seeking
A 'job seeker' is a person who did not work during the week that ended on 12/27/2008, and was actively seeking work during December.
The information received from this question can be used, among other things, to plan employment services in areas where the job seekers' population is large.
Question 7.30 - Did you actively seek work in December?
[] 1 Yes
[] 2 No
- Examples for actively searching for work: registering in the employment bureau (even if the person only visited there once during December), sending resumes in response to ads in newspapers, contacting a recruitment agency, asking friends, attempting to establish a private business, etc.
- Examples of 'job seeking' can be found further on in this chapter, in paragraph 4.c.
d. Availability for work
This question clarifies whether a person (who did not work and who sought work) would have been available to start working during the week that ended on 12/27/2008, if work had been offered to him, or was he occupied in a way that would have prevented him from beginning to work.
Question 7.40 - If you had been offered an appropriate job, would you have been able to start working during the week that ended on 12/27/2008?
[] 1 Yes
[] 2 No
4. Detailed definitions
a. List of activities which are considered as work and activities which are not considered as work:
Activities considered as work:
Students, apprentices:
Apprentice or intern work, even if unpaid (for example: an apprentice in an auto repair shop, an intern, etc.)
Practical work of students in agricultural or nursing schools, within the framework of their studies.
Paid work of students in a vocational course.
Work of high school students from cities in a work camp on a Kibbutz , outside the framework of their studies.
Work of a yeshiva student, aged 18 or over, who teaches in the yeshiva.
Work of students who serve as tutors.
Military, air a naval crews:
Work of religious girls performing 'national service', in lieu of military service.
Career army service in the Border Police, or work as a policeman in the police.
Paid work of civilians employed by the army (IDF civilian employees).
Work of aircrews on civilian planes and of naval crews on civilian ships.
Civilian work of a soldier in mandatory military service, who works in a civilian job, in addition to his military service.
Private lessons, babysitting, foster care:
Providing private lessons in exchange for pay.
Babysitting in exchange for pay.
Caretakers or domestic workers who work in exchange for room, board and allowance.
Childcare within the framework of a foster family. If both spouses care for the children within this framework, and do not have any other job -treat only one of them as working. His spouse shall be registered as 'Not working'.
Continuing education programs:
Persons who were sent by their workplace (salaried employees or self-employed) to a continuing education program for a week, or less.
Persons who were sent by their workplace (salaried employees or self-employed) to a continuing education program, for a period longer than a week, and the program took place during work and not at a school.
Work abroad or work in Israel for a foreign body:
Work of a person who has been abroad for less than a year, and works there as a salaried employee of an institution, factory or company which operates in Israel. For example: work in the embassy, employee of the Jewish National Fund, employee of a construction company who was sent abroad to execute a construction project abroad.
Work of a self-employed business owner who has been abroad for less than a year, for the purpose of his operations in Israel. For example: boutique owner who went abroad to bring merchandise.
Work of a person who works in Israel, but his employer is a foreign body (for example: foreign reporter, worker in embassy of a foreign country).
Other types of work:
Civilian work of a soldier in mandatory military service, who works in a civilian job, in addition to his military service.
Work of a self-employed professional, who does not have regular work hours, such as a cab driver who waits for passengers.
Work of 'volunteers' from abroad, who are staying in Israel and work 15+ hours a week.
Activities which are not considered as work:
Work of a homemaker in his or her household.
Volunteer work, without pay or other compensation. For example: women who volunteer in hospitals with Yael organization, women who volunteer to work in military bases, unpaid volunteer on Kibbutz .
Work of a vocational school student within the framework of his studies (excluding agricultural school).
Work of an Israeli abroad, who works there as a salaried employee of an institution, factory or company which are not Israeli.
Inactive partnership in business.
Regular army service (mandatory or career) or reserve duty, including work of soldiers who are sent to civilian workplaces (such as: a soldier teacher).
Work within the framework of the Nahal (Fighting Pioneer Youth) or Shalat (Unpaid Military Service) programs.
People who were sent by their workplace to continuing education programs, but the frameworks of the programs are external.
Students in vocational courses and career change courses who study all day (even if they get paid by their workplace).
b. Examples of absence from work
Considered as absent:
Woman on a maternity leave of up to 14 weeks (which is the period for which the Social Security pays maternity allowance), as well as a woman who following her maternity leave takes advantage of the annual vacation days she is entitled to.
A woman on unpaid leave following her maternity leave, up to 30 days since the beginning of the unpaid leave.
A person who has a job, business or farm, but was absent from it during the week that ended on 12/27/2008 because of a paid vacation, illness, reserve duty, etc.
Person on unpaid leave of up to 30 days.
A person who has been in a continuing education program, on behalf of his workplace, for less than a year (this refers to cases where the program is outside the framework of the job).
A person who has been absent from work, without receiving pay, for a period of no longer than 30 days, due to a strike at the workplace, or a temporary halt of work in a certain agricultural branch.
A person who has been on a paid sabbatical from a certain institution, for a period of a year or less. For example: university, school.
Not considered as absent:
A person who has been absent for more than 12 months.
A woman who is on an unpaid leave following a maternity leave, if more than 30 days have passes since the beginning of the unpaid leave.
A person who works in a seasonal job (lifeguard, picker, etc.), if the season he worked during has ended.
A person who has been on a sabbatical from work, or in a continuing education program on behalf of his workplace, for a period longer than 12 months.
A person who does not work regularly, but is occasionally invited to perform a job, and on the week that ended on 12/27/2008, did not work all week.
A person who was promised work.
A person who has been absent from work, without being paid, for a period longer than 30 days, due to a strike at the workplace, or a temporary halt of work in a certain agricultural branch.
c. Examples of job seeking
Considered as seeking work:
A person who was promised a job within four weeks.
A person waiting for an answer from a certain workplace shall be considered as searching for a job for four weeks from the time he applied.
Not considered as seeking work:
A person who did not actively seek work.
A person who searched for volunteer work, unpaid and not in exchange for any other compensation.
A self-employed professional (whitewasher, seamstress) who does not have regular work hours or work days.
A person who is occasionally approached by an employer to perform a certain job, such as: a nurse who does not work regularly but is willing to do 'private guard duty' when needed, substitute teachers.