We all know this line: “I have the right.” Yes, we all have the right to do this or that, but sometimes our rights are just intangible dreams. Let’s be wise and learn to compromise.
Asking from a legal point of view: What can I do? What do I have the right to do? The answer is very simple: Whatever is not forbidden by law – you can do!
One of the most afflicting problems of our modern times is the issue of acceptance. We find it very difficult to accept life as is. We can’t deal with disappointments and, as a result, we are constantly fighting unnecessary or lost battles.
In this and the next articles, I will provide a few examples from real cases in different areas of Israeli life and our legal system. This time we will deal with Labor Law.
Some background:
John was working in a very good firm – still a young business, but already profitable, promising and successful by Israeli standards. The environment in the firm was fantastic, John was well paid and besides a car, they offered some other “bonuses” that John appreciated. John never doubted his boss’s integrity and had no reason to.
The beginning of the problem :
After 3 years in business, something happened in the market and the firm now had a few issues regarding cash flow – salaries were paid a few days later and pension fund contributions were not paid.
Finally, the boss gathered all of the workers in the firm and told them what was happening. Times were rough for their business. The clients were very late on their payments; therefore, the firm was having a major problem with cash flow. New investment was needed, so a new investor was found. The boss would take on a partner, who would bring the necessary capital into the business.
The catch was in the demands from Mr. Brown, the new investor’s CPA, who would be running the firm with the boss.
Mr. Brown told the employees that they would have to return their company cars and that their salaries would need to be reduced by at least 25% for the next six months. The workers couldn’t easily swallow these changes, among many others – not even for a short period of time. The meeting was tense and after a few hours of debate, they decided to vote.
After a short and stormy vote, the workers declined the proposition. They demanded to keep what they were promised in the beginning. They demanded to receive what they had the right to receive, according to their original contracts.
John came to me:
John was sad and in despair. On one hand, he wanted to keep his job, but on the other hand he felt he “deserved his rights.” He was an excellent worker, chief engineer in the firm and very talented. John needed that salary. He and his family depended on that salary; therefore, a cut of 25% plus losing the car would be a big blow to the family’s finances.
He couldn’t afford the loss and as a result, he opted to vote against the package deal.
“John, you are right, but you are not acting intelligently.” This is what I explained to him when he told me he decided to refuse the proposal from his boss.
I suggested meeting the boss and Mr. Brown to try to find a viable solution. It took me a few hours of work to understand that I could not provide a solution. I was the “law” guy, not the entrepreneur. After this meeting, I met the employees and tried again in vain to reach a deal – they would not hear me and their lawyer told them to cut off the negotiations with me. They had rights!
John surprised us with a very good and simple plan. We all agreed on the spot and I made the legal arrangements.
I met with them three months after they had started a new company. John and Mr. Brown (representing the investor), after buying the patent rights from the old boss for an undisclosed sum, paid the amount to the boss’s overseas account (I am sure nobody knew or could track that account).
In the meantime, I took care of the legalities (representing the old boss) and also prepared the defense from all other lawsuits against the firm and the boss.
A year later, those employees are still spending money on lawyers, waiting for their rights. They will be waiting forever because they will never see a penny from the firm (it is not a corporation – just an “Esek Murshe” – which has no assets and nothing from the boss, who had never accumulated much and filed for bankruptcy.
The new project is very successful and they are selling their products well in the West and the Far East. John is earning slightly more than he used to, with the future looking extremely promising.
John waived his rights – and from a difficulty he created an opportunity!
A word of wisdom:
Yes, we all have rights, but there are times in our lives when these rights are nothing but empty words or promises. If these employees had agreed on that deal, they could have saved the firm, their jobs, their pension fund and their time.
Compromising is always a right, but sometimes it is also an obligation.
