Same in Israel, but it's mandatory to pay a months' wages for every year you worked at the company. The employer has to pay into a fund that the employee can cash out when they're let go.

So are payroll taxes, and they're not "up to the company".

We can see from the priorities how workers have been left out of the decision making for decades in the US.

Aren't they though? My understanding is that they pay the payroll taxes on behalf of the employees but I think they aren't required to, it's just customary. If you're an independent contractor you pay it yourself.

Contractors aren't payroll, they're technically AP/suppliers. If you do payroll, you pay taxes - it's the law.