Ruling against Spanish Embassy: Must pay Israeli employee about 79,000 shekels

The Tel Aviv Labor Court rejected the Spanish Embassy's claim of immunity and ordered it to pay an Israeli-Spanish employee 78,750 shekels for pension contributions that were not transferred. The claim for severance pay was dismissed.

The Tel Aviv Regional Labor Court ruled that the Spanish Embassy in Israel must pay an Israeli-Spanish employee 78,750 shekels for pension contributions not transferred during his employment. The employee, who worked as an administrative assistant in the embassy's economic and commercial office for about 13 years, sued for severance pay, pension contributions, and compensation for emotional distress. The court rejected the embassy's claim of sovereign immunity, ruling that employee claims regarding labor rights are not entitled to absolute immunity. It determined that the Spanish social security arrangement does not substitute for a personal pension as required by Israeli law, and that pension rights in Israel are mandatory. However, the claim for severance pay was dismissed because the employee did not prove he resigned due to a substantial deterioration in his working conditions. His demand to impose future responsibility on the embassy for tax and national insurance payments was also rejected.