If so, how can the deduction rate permitted by law be determined? Section 25(a) of the Wage Protection Law, 5718-1958, permits the deduction of “organizational handling fees” from employees who are not members of a workers’ organization, and the deduction of a higher amount, known as “membership dues,” from employees who are members of a workers’ organization.
The question therefore arises as to what can be done when the workplace deducts membership dues from employees’ wages even though those employees never asked to be members of the workers’ organization — and certainly did not ask to have deductions taken from their wages for services they never requested.
It is important to note that the differences between membership dues and professional handling fees can amount to tens of shekels each month, and cumulatively can reach thousands of shekels. Even though these are not negligible sums, many employees do not bother to stand up for their rights and sue the employer, and simply accept the situation.
The correct and effective way to handle situations in which the amount of the individual claim is relatively low compared with the costs required to file a claim is to file a class action.
What Is a Class Action?
A class action is a claim in which a plaintiff who has a personal cause of action — that is, the plaintiff suffered a relatively small financial loss — files suit, but where the harm caused to the plaintiff in all likelihood raises substantial factual or legal questions that concern additional people, and a class action is therefore filed on behalf of those additional people.
In a class action proceeding, that plaintiff files a claim on behalf of all the other people who were similarly harmed, and even though there is no personal, familial, or prior connection between them, the class representative can claim the damages on behalf of everyone. If the claim is accepted, all members of the class will receive compensation even though they did not bother to file a claim.
The purpose of a class action is to save additional legal proceedings, resolve common questions, and prevent contradictions between different courts.
How Much Does It Cost to File a Class Action?
Filing a class action does not involve any payment to the representing attorney, and apart from the court fee and ancillary expenses required to prove the claim, the class representative is not required to pay any additional funds.
As for attorney’s fees — the fee is set by the court, or, in the case of a settlement, the fee is determined by the parties and paid by the defendant. The same applies to the award paid to the class representative, which is intended to compensate them for the risk they took in filing the class action.
Can a Class Action Be Filed Against a Workplace When a Collective Agreement Applies?
The Class Actions Law, 5766-2006, restricts an employee’s ability to file a class action where a collective agreement applies to the employee and the employee’s employer is a party to that collective agreement. The restriction stems from Section 10(3) of the Second Schedule to the Class Actions Law.
Accordingly, the regulations create a situation that is untenable, since there may certainly be cases in which employees’ rights in the workplace are not enforced yet there is a prohibition on suing the employer.
Over time, several class actions were filed against workplaces, and the National Labor Court held that Section 10(3) of the Second Schedule does not constitute an impenetrable barrier preventing the filing of class actions — even where the employee and employer are parties to a collective agreement.
On this matter, the National Labor Court held that the purpose of the Class Actions Law, together with violations of employees’ rights in the workplace, grants the court discretion to permit the filing of class actions where the workers’ organization is not acting to fully enforce employees’ rights, and that it is not appropriate to grant the workplace immunity from claims against it.
This interpretation is consistent with the need to resolve the “agency problem” in the workplace — a problem that relates to situations in which the party meant to represent a certain side fails to do so for improper motives and thereby breaches its duty. In this context, the workers’ organization is responsible for protecting the interests of the employees — who are already weakened in their workplace — and these employees find themselves not properly represented by the workers’ organization for reasons contrary to the organization’s purpose.
Is the Employee Obligated to Approach the Workers’ Organization Before Filing the Claim?
The National Labor Court holds that in order to give effect to the Class Actions Law, the employee must approach the workers’ organization in writing so as to allow the organization to take the initiative and act with the aim of resolving the dispute and avoiding a legal proceeding. The written approach to the workers’ organization is required by virtue of principles of fairness, legal efficiency, and good faith.
Can One Be Joined to a Workers’ Organization Merely Because an Employee Did Not Complain About the Deduction from Their Wages?
Joining a workers’ organization is not accomplished through omission, and merely because an employee failed to notice, or did not complain to the employer about an unlawful deduction, does not effect membership. Freedom of association does not permit joining a workers’ organization against the employee’s will, and doing so would violate constitutional principles.
In conclusion, and after discussing the legal tools available to the employee when their rights are trampled in the workplace and sums are deducted from their wages contrary to law, the employer can be sued for the differences between the membership dues and the professional handling fees, on behalf of the employee and of all the employees.
We recommend contacting our office on any matter relating to labor law, with the aim of realizing your rights as established by law.
As a side note, our office recently filed a class action against a subsidiary of the Histadrut for deducting membership dues from the wages of all its employees, without bothering to check at all whether they were members of the Histadrut.
