Labour10/14/2026

Dismissed Sales Manager Awarded About Half a Million Shekels

The Tel Aviv Regional Labor Court partially accepted Avraham Rahmani’s claim against “Kuli K.A. Cranes Ltd.” The bulk of the award was compensation for overtime work; the court also recognized commissions as part of the employee’s regular salary.

Key facts

•Court: Tel Aviv Regional Labor Court
•Claimant: Avraham Rahmani
•Defendant: “Kuli K.A. Cranes Ltd.”
•Amount claimed: 876,000 shekels
•Award: About 500,000 shekels
•Legal costs: 40,000 shekels

The Employment and Dismissal

Rahmani worked for about three years as a field sales manager at a company that imports and sells hydraulic cranes. Initially, his base salary was 14,000 shekels gross per month plus commissions, and during the first few months his total salary was to be at least 22,000 shekels. Later, the base component was reduced to 7,000 shekels, and a 1% commission was set on sales of up to 1.7 million shekels. The employee was dismissed following a hearing concerning a conversation he had with one of the company’s customers about the payment terms of a transaction.

The Employee’s Claims

After his dismissal, Rahmani sought 876,000 shekels, claiming that he had not received all the payments due to him. According to him, he generally worked from eight in the morning until eight in the evening but was not paid for overtime. He also claimed that the company changed his salary terms without providing the notice required by law and incorrectly calculated his social benefits.

Why the Court Rejected the Employer’s Position

The company argued that because of the mobile nature of the work, it was impossible to monitor Rahmani’s working hours and that the rules regarding overtime pay therefore did not apply to him. The court rejected this argument: a substantial portion of the meetings was scheduled in advance, and modern management methods and technology made it possible to monitor the working hours as a whole. The employee was awarded more than 300,000 shekels for unpaid overtime.

How the Commissions Were Taken into Account

The court ruled that the commissions were an integral part of Rahmani’s regular salary and that they must be taken into account when calculating overtime pay. They were calculated from the first shekel of sales and depended solely on the performance of ordinary sales work, and their amount was considerably higher than the base salary. The total amount awarded was about half a million shekels, in addition to which interest, linkage differentials, and 40,000 shekels in legal costs will be added.

What this means for you

The mobile nature of the work does not in itself negate the right to overtime pay if the employer was able to monitor working hours. Regular commissions directly related to the employee’s ordinary work may be considered part of the salary for the purpose of calculating payments under labor law. The specific outcome depends on the salary terms, the nature of the commissions, and the ability to document working hours.

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Case analysis based on court rulings