Among the issues tackled by the state comptroller in his report filed today are benefits tainted with nepotism for employees of crucial services – a longstanding tradition in Israeli culture.
State Comptroller Yosef Shapira says a quarter of public institutions in the country give their employees benefits for free or at reduced cost.
Among the institutions criticized is the Israel Electric Corporation, where employees and their families receive free electricity; Israel Railways, where the family members of company employees are exempt from paying for use of trains; and free academic studies for the offspring of tenured university lecturers.
Giving benefits against deductions from workers’ pay is legitimate, but Shapira says no such deductions were made in the cases mentioned above.
Among the institutions giving such benefits are hospitals and medical centers, and since the official employer of such institutions is the state, Shapira essentially accuses the state of dodging its own tax laws.
State Comptroller Yosef Shapira, October 29, 2014 (photo credit: Flash90)
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