According to the ruling handed down on Tuesday by the Regional Labor Court of Tel Aviv, employers are allowed to require employees or staff members to get the vaccine or perform a COVID test prior to coming to work.

The court ruling came after an employee of the Mekorot National Water Company filed a petition against the company after Mekorot issued a policy ruling stating that unvaccinated workers who do not present a negative Covid-19 test can no longer come to work.

The court told the plaintiff that it was inadvisable to continue with the case. The judge ruled that Mekorot’s request of all unvaccinated workers present two negative Covid-19 tests per week was a balanced policy.

Originally, the employee agreed to take the tests against his will but sent a letter to the company stating that he reserved the right to sue them later.

According to a statement made by one of Mekorot’s lawyers, the company has approximately 1,500 employees and only 30 of them are unvaccinated. Among those, fifty percent of them cannot receive the vaccine due to medical issues.

Until now, the country paid for all coronavirus tests. However, with the new Green Tag regulations, people who choose to not receive the vaccine will have to pay for their own tests which run close to 52 NIS each at the cheapest testing centers.

This ruling sets a precedent for other companies and can now be used to force employees to be vaccinated or be tested at the risk of losing their jobs for non-compliance.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)