After the Second Lebanon War, then-defense minister Amir Peretz initiated a campaign to encourage employers to support their reservist employees.
He instituted an award for employers who respect employees choice to serve, guarantee their rights and even encourage them to volunteer for duty.
Today, in advance of the second annual award, employees and employers are being asked to submit nominations.
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The judges include businessman Benny Gaon, Manufacturers Association President Shraga Brosh, and Histadrut labor federation chair Ofer Eini. The awards will be presented before Independence Day in May.
The intention is to encourage employers not through sanctions for violating the law, but through praise for recognizing the importance of reserve duty, said Chief Reserve Officer, Brigadier General Danny Van Biren.
Employers are eligible for the award if they have an organizational policy that honors and respects workers who serve in the reserves; attention and understanding for reserve soldiers; special projects specifically for reservists; and an organizational understanding of the importance of reserve duty.
One of the award recipients was investment house Meitav. Of Meitav's 210 employees, 45 do reserve duty, including CEO Avner Stepak. TheMarker interviewed him during a stint in the reserves with his artillery unit on the Golan Heights. However, despite the firm?s support and donations to various units, Stepak said he is against commercial sponsorship of IDF units.
What Meitav workers do receive is an extra NIS 150 per day of service, and those who serve in combat situations receive a free weekend vacation for two. ?Even if reserve duty has a certain price for the business, companies must bear it, said Stepak.
Another winner of the award was the law offices of Yehuda Raveh, where 40 of the 90 employees serve in the reserves.
Raveh tries to make his reservist employees? lives easier by not requiring them to work when they are on leave from the army, and by not piling on the work once they return.
After the Second Lebanon War, all of his workers who served during the war received a weekend in Eilat. Of course, not all employers are so considerate of their employees who do reserve duty.
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