Benjamin (Benny) M. Cohen & Co., Law Office

The Late Ditza Raphaly

(1949-2017)

Collective Labor Law – The Firm focuses on active involvement in accompanying and managing crises in collective labor relations, starting with identifying the focus of the conflict and determining a legal and organizational strategy, through routing the moves for conflict resolution, labeling courses of action and alternatives to changing situations during the conflict, and the active management of collective bargaining, until the conclusion of wage agreements, employment agreements and anchoring agreements on employee rights. To all said – ongoing attention to the relationship between employees and their organizations and employers in the public and private sectors. The Firm has expertise in submitting applications to the High Court of Appeal and the various judicial authorities on constitutional and public matters.
Organizational Changes, Mergers, Dispositions, and Privatizations – The Firm is intensively involved in organizational changes, mergers, divestitures, and privatizations. These sectors have grown in recent years, building on the growing trend towards privatisation of governments and state-owned enterprises. In this area, the Firm is aided by representatives of the employees in the workplace, in the realm of negotiations with ownership or management, before signing the collective agreement to secure the rights of employees and to secure a “safety net” for the transition period and getting appropriate grant funds that express the contribution of employees over the years.
The Firm is an initiator and pioneer in forming integrated teams of lawyers, economists, lobbyists, and media experts to deal with workplace crises, ranging from the initial stage, before the declaration of any labor dispute, to the formulation and signing of a collective agreement. This initiative stems from the realization that a successfully organized struggle requires comprehensive and professional planning and integrated efforts in the legal, political, economic, and media fields alike.
Privatization Processes and Major Organizational Changes Being Handled by the Firm – The first bank privatizations, involving the Union Bank, the Discount Bank, Bank Leumi., the representation of the employees of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange during its structural changes, the representation of Union Bank’s employees during the merger with Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, the representation of Bank Mishkan employees during the Bank’s merger with Bank Hapoalim, the representation of Arab-Israel Bank employees during the merger with Bank Leumi, the representation of Discount Mortgage Bank employees during the merger with Discount Bank, the representation of Bank Otsar Ha’Hayal and Bank Massad employees during the transfer of ownership of said banks to the First International Bank; representation of Bank Otsar Ha’Hayal employees after the Bank’s merger into the First International Bank, the representation of Co-Op employees at the time of its sale to the Dudi Weissman – Bronfman group, the representation of Tnuva employees in their struggle to receive grants upon the corporate sale – the first grant when transferring ownership to Apax and the second grant when transferring ownership to “Bright Food”, the representation of Israel Military Industries employees in the process of selling its factories, the representation of technical-professional employees in the process of RAFAEL’s status change from a support unit of the Ministry of Defense to a government company. Advocate Benny Cohen and his staff are involved with the employees’ representatives before and during any organizational changes, thus preventing any potential harm to employees and contributing to the improvement of their employment conditions.
Workers’ Committee – Management Relations – The Firm is involved in the ongoing working relationship between workers’ committees and management at the various workplaces, and also advises the committees on issues based on the Histadrut Labor Organization’s constitution, the committees’ by-laws, and the collective agreements that deal with the status of the committee vis-à-vis management. The Firm has expertise in initial organizational efforts at the workplace election procedures for committees, trade unions, and organizations.
Personal Labor Law – The Firm handles various aspects of labor law in the private sector and offers a range of consulting services towards signing a personal employment contract uniquely tailored to the position, representation during hearings before terminations, representations for financial claims and requests for temporary and permanent relief at the various judicial instances. The Firm has particular expertise in dealing with responses to audit reports, whether internal audits or external audits or audits by the State Comptroller’s Office. The Firm has particular expertise in collective and personal labor law, allowing for optimization in relations with the private sector.
National Insurance Institute – This field focuses on representing and supporting employees with insurance companies and representations before medical committees.
Ensuring Pensioners’ Rights – The representation of pensioners during legal proceedings on budgetary pension and personal pension accruals. The Firm operates in this field in conjunction with pension advisers.
Ensuring the Rights of Employees and Retirees – Representation of employees and retirees in budgetary pension and legal proceedings concerning pension calculations, drafting wills and inheritances, as well as ongoing power of attorney. The Firm also operates with close support from pension consultants.
Representation in the Knesset – The Firm represents clients at various Knesset committees. The Firm follows the agenda of the various Knesset committees, government decisions, and proposed bills, identifies issues related to labor relations under discussion, and examines in advance the expected consequences of the decisions and proposals of law. This legal field is managed by Advocate Meir Assaraf, who specializes in public policy and legislation, and holds approved lobbyist certification in the Knesset.
Litigation – The Firm handles litigation in the field of collective and personal labor law.