In dismissal due to reductions the duty of hearing and the demands deriving therefrom are minimized

An employee was called for an immediate meeting with a manager at the company during which he was informed that he is dismissed for reasons of reduction.
The Court ordered the employer to compensate the employee for lack of a hearing. The obligation to hold a hearing is not an absolute obligation or a “ceremony” that must be fulfilled as an eyewash. It is a practical process which purpose is to examine the justification for the dismissal. The question to be asked is whether the employer allowed the employee to prepare properly for the hearing in order to raise arguments and convince the employer that he should not be dismissed. However, in cases where the dismissal process is unavoidable, such as in a situation of dismissal due to real reductions, it is possible to minimize the obligation of hearing - both in terms of shortening the prior notice for the hearing and the hearing itself, both in terms of the duration and in terms of the requirement to record a protocol. Here, while the dismissal was for reasons of reduction and therefore the employer's obligations are lower, the dismissal was done unlawfully, without a proper hearing, without giving the employee proper time to prepare and raised his contention and without recording a protocol.