Worker Injured in Hotel Pool During Company Retreat Loses Labor Court Case
Translated & summarized from Kikar HaShabbat by baba
An Ashdod Port Company employee injured in a hotel pool during a company retreat had his claim for work accident recognition denied by the Regional Labor Court. The court ruled the retreat's main purpose was to incentivize holiday work, not organizational team-building. It also found the pool activity was a personal choice during free time. The ruling clarifies that employer-sponsored retreats do not automatically qualify injuries as work accidents.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- An Ashdod Port employee injured in a hotel pool during a company retreat lost his work accident claim.
- The Regional Labor Court ruled the retreat's primary purpose was to incentivize holiday work.
- The court found the pool activity was a personal choice during free time, not organized work.
- The employee stated his purpose at the pool was to "relax and do nothing."
- The ruling clarifies employer-sponsored retreats do not automatically qualify injuries as work accidents.
An employee of the Ashdod Port Company who was injured in a hotel swimming pool during a company-sponsored retreat has had his claim for work accident recognition denied by the National Insurance Institute and subsequently by the Regional Labor Court. The employee, a mechanical equipment operator, was staying at the "Bobo" hotel in Tel Aviv from September 3 to 5, 2024. On September 4, he sustained an injury while in the hotel's pool.
The employee argued that the retreat was part of collective agreements at the port, organized with employer assistance, and partially funded by the company's team-building budget. He claimed two of the three days were considered team-building days, and the port partially covered the accommodation costs, with him paying an additional 420 shekels. The National Insurance Institute rejected his claim in November 2024, deeming it a social outing unrelated to work.
The Labor Court, presided over by Judge Rinat Sinai-Aloush, examined the retreat's purpose and conduct. Evidence showed the retreat was for groups of about 30 employees to allow for continuous port operations, with participants choosing their dates and companions. Attendance was not mandatory, and there were no lectures, professional activities, or a mandatory joint team-building program. Employees were free to spend their time as they wished, including leaving the hotel. When asked about his purpose at the pool, the employee stated, "I came to relax and do nothing."
The court determined that the arrangement's primary goal was to incentivize employees to work during the intermediate days of holidays (Chol HaMoed), when staffing is difficult, and not to foster organizational team-building. The court ruled that even if the retreat were considered work-related, the employee's presence in the pool was a personal choice during free time, not part of an organized activity. Therefore, the claim to recognize the September 4, 2024, injury as a work accident was dismissed. The court noted that employer-funded or organized retreats do not automatically qualify injuries sustained during them as work accidents; recognition depends on the event's purpose, its connection to work, and the circumstances of the specific activity where the injury occurred.