Employee to be compensated NIS 250,000 from gym chain

The Tel Aviv Regional Labor Court ruled that Holmes Place gym chain must compensate a cleaning and maintenance worker NIS 250,000 after refusing to recognize him as a direct employee. The worker was employed at the Givat Shmuel branch for about seven years, was fired in April 2023 after a dispute over a lunch break, and sued for social benefits. The chain claimed he was employed through a contractor but failed to prove it.

The Tel Aviv Regional Labor Court ruled last week that the Holmes Place gym chain must compensate a cleaning and maintenance worker NIS 250,000 after refusing to recognize him as a direct employee. The worker was employed at the chain's Givat Shmuel branch for about seven years, until April 2023. For the first three years, he was employed through a contractor, but later performed complex maintenance work on long shifts, received direct instructions from managers, and was fully integrated into the branch's operations. His dismissal came after the branch manager demanded he stop his lunch break to handle a leak; when the worker asked to finish his meal after long working hours, the manager fired him on the spot. The chain argued it was not his direct employer, as he was not part of its workforce and it did not pay him directly. The court rejected this claim after the chain failed to identify a specific contractor who employed him, no proper pay slips were issued, and there was no document describing his employment terms. His salary was paid in cash totaling 10,000 shekels, and chain managers could not identify who paid him. Judge Sharon Shavit Kaftori and public representative Dov Past ordered the chain to pay compensation for wage differences, deprivation of social rights, overtime pay, wrongful dismissal, legal costs, and attorney fees. The chain's claim for offset was dismissed as it was raised too late in the proceedings. Holmes Place said they are studying the ruling.