Two former cashiers say the retailer deducted till shortages from their pay. The court said ordinary business losses cannot automatically be shifted to employees.
Jerusalem’s Regional Labor Court has allowed a complaint by two former cashiers at the Rami Levy: Shivuk Hashikma chain to proceed as a class action. Meir Edri and Baruch Shetiel seek repayment of money they say was deducted from their wages or demanded in cash after till shortages were found at the end of shifts.
The central legal question was whether a till shortage qualifies as an employee debt that an employer may deduct from wages under a written undertaking. Rami Levy argued that the deductions followed clear procedures and were made with employees’ voluntary written consent. The panel, led by Judge Rachel Barag-Hirschberg, rejected that argument.
Ynet reported that the court said Section 25 of Israel’s Wage Protection Law safeguards workers’ base and minimum pay and does not allow an employer to transfer routine business risks to cashiers. It said staff could be made to cover shortages without proof of fault or a full review of the circumstances, including technical errors, shift changes or inadequate training.
The ruling cited the cashiers’ testimony that they faced pressure after stores closed. They said tired employees who wanted to go home were asked to sign wage-deduction forms and were implicitly or explicitly warned that refusing could lead to hearings or dismissal. The court said disciplinary penalties and negligence claims must be handled through lawful procedures, rather than automatic deductions from net pay.
The chain was ordered to pay 25,000 shekels in legal fees to the claimants’ lawyer, and 4,000 shekels in costs to each of the two applicants. Certification allows the case to proceed on behalf of a group of cashiers; it is not a final judgment ordering repayment of all disputed sums.
Ynet linked the case to its earlier investigation into the recovery of till shortages by several retail chains. The Labor Ministry later investigated Victory. According to Ynet, the company and its controlling owner, Avraham Ravid, were found guilty of labor-law violations including unlawful deductions, failure to pay minimum wages and overtime, and requiring employee deposits. They were fined a total of 130,000 shekels. Claimants’ lawyer Zvi Mendelson told the outlet they would seek repayment of the deductions.
Edri worked as a cashier for about five months, from March to August 2018. Shetiel worked for the chain for about six years, from February 2012 to November 2018, mostly as a cashier and later as a stockroom worker.