Labour9/9/2026

Artificial Intelligence Encompasses All Stages of Employment, but There Are Almost No Collective Agreements

Artificial intelligence is already being used to screen candidates, manage employees, evaluate work, and make decisions that could lead to dismissals. At a conference at Tel Aviv University, researchers and representatives of workers’ organizations warned that in Israel, the use of such systems is barely regulated by collective agreements.

Key facts

•The publication was updated on 09.09.2026
•Venue of the discussion: Tel Aviv University
•More than 85 company-level agreements have been signed in Europe
•According to the studies cited, 99% of companies use artificial intelligence in employee recruitment
•The Ministry of Labor is preparing recommendations for next year

What Risks Were Discussed

Artificial intelligence systems can collect publicly available information about candidates, analyze speech and behavior during interviews, monitor employees, and evaluate their performance. This creates risks of discrimination, nontransparent decisions, excessive surveillance, and infringements of privacy. The information collected may also affect dismissal decisions, while incentives to work faster may affect employees’ safety and mental well-being.

Why Collective Rules Are Needed

Prof. Einat Albin and Dr. Gadi Perl believe that workers’ representatives should be involved before a system is implemented, rather than after problems arise. Collective agreements can establish rules concerning monitoring, personal-data protection, human oversight, algorithm audits, appeals against decisions, and professional retraining. In Europe, more than 85 such agreements have been signed at the individual-company level over the past two years, whereas in Israel there are still almost no such agreements.

The Ministry of Labor’s Position

Gadi Haber, legal adviser to the Labor Relations Unit at the Ministry of Labor, said that the ministry is examining the impact of artificial intelligence on the labor market and intends to prepare recommendations during the coming year. In his assessment, the ministry may prefer not to regulate the issue through centralized government regulation, but rather through rules enshrined in collective agreements and extension orders. Labor court rulings may also serve as a tool for resolving new disputes.

Decisions Should Remain in Human Hands

The researchers called for examining exactly what the system predicts, how representative its data is, and who is responsible for errors or bias. The reasoning behind decisions should be understandable to employees, and they should have the option of appealing them. According to Dr. Gadi Perl’s position, the final decision should remain human, be fair, and be subject to review.

What this means for you

For employees and job candidates, this means that an algorithm may affect hiring, evaluation, supervision, and termination of employment, even though dedicated collective protections are still rare in Israel. The practical significance of future agreements is the possibility of defining in advance the limits of monitoring, the human-review process, and the ways to appeal automated decisions. The source does not report the enactment of a new statute or a rule binding all employers.

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