One of the important benefits to which El Al Israel Airlines Ltd.'s (TASE: ELAL) 6,200 temporary and permanent employees are entitled is free flights in available places on the company's planes. Children of employees are entitled to this benefit up to age 50, so the number of tickets involved is probably in the tens of thousands.
El Al is now changing this rule in a rather astonishing way - by changing the way employees' children are defined. Sources inform "Globes" that under the rules recently introduced by the company, non-biological children of El Al employees will no longer be entitled to this benefit after age 21.
A veteran El Al employee who is on his second marriage said that he had personally experienced this decision when his non-biological son, the son of his wife from her previous marriage, was denied the benefit. The employee said that following his and similar cases, employees had contacted management, which said that the rule had already existed, but had not been implemented until now.
The employee said, "If this is an existing rule, I can say that it has not been applied for at least seven years. We don't know how to respond to this decision and its consequences, beyond the fact that we're angry and disappointed. Employees have 350 children in the non-biological category, whether from second marriages or from same-sex couples.
"This is an unprecedented scandal. It isn't clear to us where this decision to discriminate against our non-biological children comes from. In my case, my son has grown up with me since he was a small boy, and he's no different than biological children. It's a pity that El Al thinks he's different."
The employee added, "For us, this is an integral part of our salary. It's more than a bonus, and keep in mind that for El Al, it costs nothing, because the seats on the plane were in any case not sold."
Why the company chose to exclude non-biological children and the relevance of the exclusion are unclear. Had a general decision been made to halt the benefit at age 21, it might have been accepted in a different spirit. People might have been angry, but there would have been no question of discrimination. In any case, El Al is not denying the report.
Another story reported to "Globes" reveals another problem relating to bonus tickets for El Al employees living with partners who are not married, those who have common-law spouses, same-sex couplies, etc. El Al employees are alleging that the company has made the rules for receiving the benefit stricter for couples in these cases, following the change in the rule for providing the benefit to spouses.
One employee said, "Up until now, the matter was confined to notarized statements and implementation of several clauses, such as having a joint bank account and a common residence in order to prove conjugality with a common-law spouse, for example. We're now being required to present a court form.
"This situation creates a problem for same-sex couples and 'ordinary' unmarried couples, because the form is likely to have consequences beyond the bonus flight. I'm divorced and have been living with a woman for several years. I'm worried that this form will affect inheritance of my estate, for example. El Al has deprived me of the benefit because of an unnecessary bureaucratic rule."
Commenting on the matter, Adv. Ira Hadar, a specialist in LGBT and new families' rights, said, "It looks like a clear case of discrimination against LGBT and other families that do not fit the traditional conservative model. It is regrettable that such discrimination is coming from El Al, which 25 years ago struggled for years to deprive steward Jonathan Danilowitz of ticket benefits for his partner merely because they were a same-sex couple.
"At that time, the dispute reached the Supreme Court, which under Supreme Court President Aharon Barak ruled in the steward's favor. It is regrettable that 25 years later, El Al is reverting to arguments of this kind and trying to discriminate against families that are different."
El Al said in response, "The company grants its employees extremely extensive benefits in this area, as well as in other areas. The company is conducting a business-like and continuous dialogue on every issue that arises, while scrupulously maintaining the company rules. El Al does not conduct the dialogue through the media."
The El Al workers committee stated, "The rule concerns non-biological children. The rule has not been changed, but it is now being enforced. The committee is conducting a dialogue with management. For common-law spouses, it appears to be a change in the company's internal rules, and it has the right to do this. This matter is also being discussed with management."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 25, 2018
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