Severance Payment and Sick Relatives
Mrs. Smith worked in two different workplaces but due to the health status of her family members, she had to quit one of her jobs (we will call it the “first”) but continued to work in her second additional workplace.
The legal question:
The legal question presented to the court was: Is Mrs. Smith entitled to receive severance payment from the first workplace even though she deliberately quit her job?
The claim:
Mrs. Smith sued for severance payment, compensation and social benefits not paid to her as requested until she quit.
The health problems:
There is no dispute that the medical issues were indeed serious issues which surrounded a large number of family members – a very rare and extreme situation.
The Law:
The law permits a worker to resign because of a bad health condition. He can also resign if the health condition problem is not his but rather one of his direct family members. In this case the employee is still be entitled to severance payment.
The precedent in court:
“Burden of proof to the applicability of article 6 of the severance pay is always incumbent on the plaintiff and it must prove that the health status of those who resigned for the reason of family health problems, which is defined in the regulations that the employee must prove that in the light of the medical condition and the rest of the medical findings, there are enough circumstances to resign. As part of this burden on the plaintiff to bring evidence by medical certificates that the state of health of the family members that are defined in the regulations, do not allow her to continue to work and must resign, and provides reason enough for further compensation.”
The defendant:
The defendant claimed the plaintiff was not entitled to any of the severance payment or any compensation due to the fact that she resigned and was not dismissed or fired by the employer.
Furthermore, the plaintiff never tried to find a real solution to prevent her from stopping working. If she had tried she could have found other solutions rather than resigning.
The decision:
On December 17th 2011 the honorable Judge, Mrs. Osnat Robovitch from the Tel Aviv Labor Court decided for the plaintiff as follows:
“As previously stated, the plaintiff claims that her resignation was announced at the beginning of 12/09, due to the accumulation of several events related to the health problems of several family members (that are indeed defined in the regulations as “family members”), which led to her decision to resign, from the first workplace where she worked only one day a week, so in order to be more free to take care of the family, who now needed her more because of their state of health.”
After hearing the evidence of the parties and reading all legal and medical documents, the Honorable Judge decided that each event by itself does not necessarily constitute a basis for eligibility for dismissal due to health of a family member. The events which took place at the beginning of the month of December 2009 led to the conclusion that the resignation was directly related to the health condition of her family members. The Judge stated: “Therefore I was convinced that the burden imposed on the plaintiff to prove that the resignation was because of the health condition of her family members is accepted”.
The Result:
The plaintiff was granted her severance payment and all the social benefits she was entitled to receive (she would have received them even if she had not won the case for the severance payment) plus an extra 6,000 shekels for lawyer’s fees.
A word of wisdom for employers:
Employers should try to better understand the law and to be more sympathetic to extreme situations, as was the case of this plaintiff. The law is not black and white therefore before you decide “not to pay” you should consult a lawyer who knows the field of labor law.
A word of wisdom for employees:
One should try to understand the employer’s situation when you resign. There are many implications, not only economic ones. Make your employer a partner, explain your situation and try to make him sympathize with your situation. It will be easier if you to turn to him as an ally and not an enemy.
The secret:
Sometimes there is no other way and a dispute must be decided in the court room. Many times it is all about finding the right balance between your rights and your employers’ interest. Both sides have legitimate interests. The secret is finding the balance between them outside the courtroom.
Sincerely,
Tzvi Szajnbrum, Attorney at Law