Three months of war puts employers in an awkward position. On the one hand they must continue functioning while giving emotional support to employees doing army reserve duty, while on the other hand, the law prevents them from firing employees carrying out reserve duty for many months. However, when put on the spot, it's no wonder that many employers can't help but urge employees to return to work.
Emeritus Judge Igal Plitman, a former President of the Labor Court and currently special counsel to the AYR - Amar Reiter Jeanne Shochatovitch & Co. law firm, says, "An employer cannot pressure a man or a woman doing army reserve duty to return to work." But the reality is much more complicated. He adds, "The employer can ask the employee to check out if they can be available in the longer term and absent themselves from army reserve duty, due to special circumstances, as long as their role is not essential for the needs of the army during the fighting."
Employers would never admit to exerting direct pressure on an employee to return from reserve duty. On the contrary, they would tend to convey resilience outwardly, and acknowledge the moral burden imposed on them. At the same time, the harm to them is significant, and the grants do not cover the full cost of these absent employees, from the payment of social contributions to losses caused by the absence of the worker.
There are employers who press
In reality things are different. Employers often make it clear to employees that they need them and some pressure them to return, either indirectly and pleasantly, or directly and bluntly. Consequently, some reservists choose a hybrid service - a model that combines work and reserve duty, and some are pushed into to doing this. A spokesperson for a political figure told "Globes" that since she was drafted into the reserves, she tries to respond to her employer, while at the same time performing her reserve duty. "She is very flexible and even though she is allowed to appoint a replacement, she does not do so. She does say that I am missing from the team and asks from time to time when I will return. She does not apply pressure, everything is done pleasantly, but the message is very clear. She wants me to finish and come back."
On the other hand, another employee says that the pressure exerted on her by her employer has led her to work at the same time as serving in the reserves, in a way that made it difficult for her until she was unable to cope. "I finished a 12-hour shift in the reserves and from there I went on to a shift at work. After a time it didn't work out, and I informed my manager that I couldn't combine both. She wasn't understanding but had to cancel my shifts because I'm on emergency order."
An employee of a startup who was hired before the beginning of the war worked and served in the reserves, on weekends, at night and whenever possible: "They hired someone to work in my place for this period of time and asked me to make up time and help hand over to her. In practice, they continued to contact me on a daily basis regarding work matters, despite my service in the reserves."
Another employee who is serving as an officer expresses similar sentiments. "With no choice, I come to work once a week in my free time, with my uniform and gun to lend them support. The pressure started from the moment I was called to the reserves and as time goes by it increases. My role in the reserves is very important to me, if I don't get to work at the same time, unfortunately I won't have a job to return to." There are also employees whose situation has led them to recalculate their way ahead. A senior executive in the NGO sector says she left her job due to the situation. "I was torn between the two worlds. I thought about resigning even before, the situation gave me the push. I experienced a lot of pressure to return to work, I flexed the system in favor of that, but at the end of the day I decided to finish working there."
The hybrid army reserves model is expected to expand. The Ministry of Finance has already understood that the new reality requires employees to be absent from work more often than in the past and has begun forming a work plan. Adv. Nimrod Ratner CPA explains, "Because of the sensitive situation, they are starting to promote legislation that will provide a solution such as extending the protection period against dismissal (after army reserve duty) and relief for the spouses." According to an analysis by the Aaron Institute for Economic Policy at Reichman University, only towards the end of next year will the economy return to a full workforce.
BDO Operational Excellence director of organizational development and consulting Leenoy Eliya, who herself combines reserve duty and work, says that the combination is quite complex. "It's a tango that needs to be built on the move. Hybridity requires a lot of switches in the head, to quickly move from one state to another, and there is fatigue that comes from these jumps. It is very difficult for employers because the employee is not fully attentive. And after a period when it was not possible to think about daily routine matters, suddenly fear has begun to creep in among reservists that they are managing without them. Some suddenly made contact with their employer, and sometimes this burdened the employers, who had already built an alternative system. Those who want the reservists to return to him should invest in listening to them. The effort should come from both sides for the political overarching goal, which we all share."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 7, 2024.
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