ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

Cleaning companies in Israel are objecting to requirements from their local authority that staff should wear electronic tracking devices when going about their tasks.

However, the municipal authorities in the city of Elad are adamant that this requirement is legal and that the condition will remain in place.

The Israeli city has put its sanitation services out to tender and stipulated that all cleaning staff should wear an electronic tracking device in the form of a bracelet around the ankle. Street-cleaning vehicles will also be tracked as part of the working conditions.

After one contractor asked the city to remove the requirement, Elad changed the wording to: "The electronic supervision device will be placed on the tools that will be carried by the worker." But contractors feel this change to be a matter of semantics and continues to voice concerns about the requirement to carry an electronic monitoring device.

Despite objecting on behalf of its staff, the contractor also says the conditions will make it impossible for any company to meet them and still make a profit. But the Elad municipality says the tracking device requirement is not only legal, but also accepted practice in refuse collection and cleaning in many Israeli cities.

According to a municipality spokesman: "The city is required to ensure that its citizens receive the maximum return for the property tax money they pay.

"Cleaning companies that think their employees will not meet the sanitation standards do not have to submit their candidacy. The city of Elad will not compromise on the municipal services it provides citizens."