I have been living in Israel for 5.5 years. In my first job in Israel (which was for the same company I worked for in the US), I made the mistake of trusting my (at the time) boss about what she told me the salary would be. I asked several times to get the amount in writing, but she never gave it to me. Fast forward to my first paycheck, and the amount was 1,300 NIS less than what she had told me (and it was my word versus hers, so I was screwed). Over the 4.5 years that I worked there, I was finally able to get paid a (somewhat) living wage. I decided to leave (no room for growth and with the start I had with my boss, you can imagine that the management wasn’t exactly ideal), and was very happy when I was offered a new job in my field that I feel is a step up, and has better pay and better benefits. However, in reviewing the contract, there were a few points that (in my now 5.5 years living in Israel) I was pretty sure were not exactly legal (in regard to vacation and sick days, travel reimbursement, etc). In this situation, I don’t think that my new boss is trying to screw me; he just really doesn’t know what is correct according to Israeli law.
I had heard about Voleh years ago and recommended them to people, but had never used their services before. I decided that this was the perfect opportunity. I called Tzvi and he was very helpful. He asked me to submit my exact questions on the website, and also to e-mail him my contract so he could review it. Within 24 hours he called me back and verified that the points in question were in fact not correct according to law, as I suspected. I was so happy with his help, that I asked if I could send a donation to Voleh. He told me that Voleh does not accept donations, but he would appreciate a comment on the site. So here you are, Tzvi … thank you so much! I hope you know what a difference you and everyone at Voleh are making in the lives of us olim … every day 🙂
