Before submitting claim and documents to the NII, it is important to swiftly report to the Employment Service Bureau, immediately after termination of employment.
Registering and reporting at the Employment Service Bureau are mandatory prerequisites to receive the employment benefit.
Information about public reception at bureaus of Employment Service due to the security situation is published on the website of the Employment Service.
How to submit a claim for unemployment benefit
If you are already registered with Employment Service - you need to fill out an online claim for unemployment benefit on the website, and sent it online together with additional documents. Submitting this form also represents a first registration with Employment Service.
If you are not yet registered with Employment Service - you will be able to register with Employment Service and submitting a claim for unemployment benefit with a single online form on the national identification system.
The claim form and required documents must be submitted within 12 months from the date on which you first reported to the Employment Service Bureau.
Please note, even if some wage slips or documents are missing, your must submit the claim and the documents in your possession within 12 months, since the day of your first reporting to Employment Service.
If you submit a claim after this date, you will be paid unemployment benefits only for the 12 months preceding the date of claim submission, and on condition that you met all conditions of entitlement during that period of time.
Documents to be submitted
- Wage information - You have to make sure your employer published to us a Form 100 (your wage details), and if not to attach an authorization from the employer for the period of employment and salary or pay slips for 12 months out of the last 18 month of employment, including the last six months of work preceding your first in-person reporting to Employment Service. It is mandatory to attach pay slips for the last 6 months of work, including a pay slip for the last month of work.
Those who were working for two employers or more must attach pay slips from every employer, even if they keep working for one or some of them.
- Authorization from the employer noting the reason for the termination of employment and the date of its termination, with the employer’s signature and stamp. If you quit your job for justifiable reasons, please provide the appropriate certifications.
If you are in unpaid leave, for at least 30 days, you have to attach an authorization from the employer mentioning the period of foreseen unpaid leave, and the balance of vacation days due to you, if any. If you have used up all your vacation days before taking an unpaid leave, the employer is to indicate that you have no vacation days left. - Additional documents:
- If you were discharged from the IDF within the past year and a half - certificate of discharge from the IDF or other military document. Please be sure that the certificate or document contains the date of induction and the date of discharge.
- If you are exempt from IDF service and are between the ages of 18 and 20 - a photocopy of the IDF exemption certificate.
- If you have completed National Service - certification by an authorized association that provided the referral to volunteering, including the period of service.
- If you have completed National Civil Service - certification by the National Civil Service Authority, including the period of service.
- If you were referred to vocational training - certification from the Employment Service Bureau regarding referral to a course and certification from the educational institution / training center regarding the number of study days, and the courses' beginning and ending dates.
- If you receive a retirement pension – a pension slip should be submitted for the first month for which you are claiming an unemployment benefit.
- If you are working as an employee during the period of unemployment - a pay slip from the job for every month of work.
If you stopped working, you must notify the Unemployment Department at the branch nearest to your place of residence. - If you are fully or partially exempted from income tax payment - Authorization concerning the rebate or exemption from Income Tax Authority.
If you do not provide the National Insurance Institute with the required authorizations or information, the NII may suspend or even reject the handling of your claim.
Submitting a repeat claim
A repeat claim for unemployment benefits may be submitted after 12 moths have elapsed since the start of the prior entitlement. If 12 months have not passed yet, there is no need to submit a new claim, since you will be able to continue receiving unemployment benefits in parallel to your reporting to Employment Service, as long as you unemployment days left to exercise.
All conditions of entitlement related to a regular claim apply to a repeat claim.
Under the law, the unemployed who have not reached the age of 40 yet, and submit more than one claim for unemployment benefit in 4 years, will be subject to a decrease in the period of payment and in the rate of unemployment benefits, in the manner detailed below:
- Period of payment of unemployment benefits - the maximum period for all unemployment benefit claims will not exceed 180% of the maximum number of days. In other words, a person who received unemployment benefits for the maximum number of days, and then submitted another unemployment benefit claim, before 4 years have elapsed since the start of the previous entitlement, will only receive the second time unemployment benefits for 80% of the days to which he is entitled. Afterwards, he will no longer be entitled to unemployment benefits up to the end of the 4 years span.
- The rate of unemployment benefits during the additional period will not exceed 85% of the maximum rate of unemployment benefit.
These principles also apply to the unemployed who receives unemployment benefits for a period of participation to vocational training.