Unemployment in Israel triggers a set of labor laws including obligations by the employer or the employee depending on whether it is a termination or resignation. Below are guidelines for relevant processes and information you need to know.

Government Benefits

If you have qualified to receive unemployment pay (see below) and your employment is terminated,  in order to receive unemployment benefits you must:

  1. Register with your local branch of Sherut HaTaasuka (Unemployment Office or Lishka).
  2. File a claim with Bituach Leumi (National Insurance Institute).

If you are dismissed, then generally, you are entitled to unemployment pay from the effective date of the end of your employment. If you resign, then generally, there is a 90-day waiting period before you are entitled to unemployment pay.

Subject to any waiting period, the payments will be retroactive from the day that you registered with Lishkat HaTaasuka — not from the date that your employment ended — so it is important to register with the Lishka immediately as soon as possible.

Lishkat HaTaasuka (Employment Office)
You must register with your local Lishkat HaTaasuka before filing a claim with Bituach Leumi. You must bring your Teudat Zehut with you and declare that you are not working but are ready and willing to do so when you find suitable employment.

The role of Lishkat HaTaasuka is to help find you suitable employment. The office has two separate tracks: one for those who have an academic degree and the other for those who do not. If you have an academic degree from abroad, it must be officially recognized by Misrad HaChinuch. In order to have the degree recognized, please bring your documents to the Misrad HaChinuch offices in Jerusalem at 2 Devorah HaNeviah, Komah 0, Room 8. The phone number is (02)560-3994, and generally, the office is open to the public from 10 – 1 on Mondays and Wednesdays – we recommend that you call in advance before you go there. As the recognition process can take several weeks, it is recommended that you register with Lishkat HaTaasuka first and then bring your documents to Misrad HaChinuch so that you can begin the process of receiving unemployment benefits.

An individual’s education, skills, and experience are taken into account in trying to find appropriate employment. As a condition for you to receive unemployment pay, you are obligated to follow up on job leads and suggestions that are brought to you by the counselor. Please be aware that if the employment counselor finds you a job that is considered suitable and you choose not to accept it, your unemployment benefits may cease.

The counselor will assign you a set follow-up plan. Generally, those under the age of 50 must appear at the office usually once a week while those over age 50 must appear once a month.

If you find part-time employment during this time, you are obligated to inform your employment counselor, but, depending on the wage and conditions, it may not affect your benefits.

For a listing of Lishkat Taasuka branch offices, click here.

For details about the Employment Office, please click here

Bituach Leumi
Bituach Leumi is the agency that determines eligibility for unemployment insurance payments and issues the payments. The purpose of unemployment insurance is to provide a person who is unemployed with alternative income for a limited period, in order to enable him/her to look for appropriate employment.

In order to receive unemployment benefits for the first time, you must apply to the Bituach Leumi branch near your place of residence and submit a claim for payment. You must have worked for an Israeli employer for at least 12 months consecutively or, if not consecutive, then for at least 300 days out of the previous year and a half. Generally, if you had been working for a foreign employer and not paid into BL, you are likely not entitled to benefits.

The following documents must be presented:

  1. A completed Bituach Leumi unemployment claim form, which is available online or at the Lishkat HaTaasuka.
  2. A letter from your employer citing the reason for your termination and the start and end dates of your employment.
  3. Monthly salary stubs from at least the previous 12 months which include the number of days worked each month.

If eligible, you will receive a monthly payment from Bituach Leumi. The sum is calculated as a daily rate and is based on a percentage of your previous monthly salary. The maximum amount of unemployment benefit is NIS 501.44 per day for the first 125 days of payment.

The length of the period for which unemployment benefits will be received is based on age and the number of children you have. The maximum number of days for which the benefits can be received is 175 (not including Shabbat and holidays) – and this length is generally for people over the age of 45. Those between the ages of 35 and 45 generally receive benefits for 138 days and those under age 35 generally receive the benefits for 100 days – but these amounts can be increased based on the number of children you have and will be determined by Bituach Leumi. After 125 days of benefits, the daily amount received is reduced.

You are allowed to file for unemployment benefits twice in a four-year period, if you file more than one claim for unemployment benefits within 4 years, your unemployment benefit payment period and unemployment benefit amounts will be reduced. If you filed with Bituach Leumi, began receiving payments, found work, and then were fired or laid off again, you will be entitled to restart the payments if you did not use the maximum number of days to which you were entitled originally. If you did use the maximum number of days, found work, and then were unemployed again, you can re-apply for unemployment payments, but it is considered a second round.

Additional details as to eligibility requirements for unemployment benefits can be found on the Bituach Leumi website.  For additional questions, please contact your local branch of Bituach Leumi or call: *6050 or 04-8812345

Thanks to guest contributor Adv. Russell Mayer for providing the above information.

This article is informational and is not to be considered as a legal opinion. For legal advice, we suggest that you contact legal counsel directly!

Russell D. Mayer is a senior partner at the Jerusalem-based law firm of Livnat, Mayer & Co. (lmf.co.il). If you have any comments or questions with respect to this article, please contact Russell at [email protected].

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* Last updated on November 19, 2024 *

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