The Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry has issued a precedent-setting indictment against the Club Hotel chain for harassing an employee and then firing her, after she filed a complaint against the company.
The woman said her work conditions had worsened after working for the chain for years and filed a complaint with the ministry's labor law enforcement division in 2009 against the company.
The indictment was for violating labor laws, which provide protection for an employee who exposes ethical violations or improper administration in the workplace. This is the first such indictment for the firing of a worker under the law.
The employee complained, among other things, that she did not receive payment for travel to and from work, as required by law. She also said that after she asked the Histadrut labor federation for help on the matter in 2008, she received a letter from her employer stating her hours were being cut.
She then complained to the ministry, which opened an investigation. A month after the ministry asked Club Hotel to provide documents concerning the case, she was fired.
The ministry said the connection between the complaint and the dismissal of the employee is the heart of the case, and not the changes in her work conditions.
The Labor Court will hear the case at the end of March and if the company is found guilty, it will be fined, will be ordered not to commit similar violations in the future, and may have to pay compensation to the employee.
Club Hotel called the complaint false and said the woman was fired as part of a reorganization, in which all workers in her job classification were let go.
