For your convenience, you can use a simulator for an simple and fast examination of your eligibility for maternity allowance.
To be entitled to a maternity allowance, you must meet ALL following criteria:
First conditions – childbirthbirth of a live newborn or birth after the 22nd week of pregnancy
You gave birth to a live newborn.
Whether you gave a stillbirth after 22 weeks + a day of pregnancy or your newborn died after birth, you will be entitled to maternity allowance according to remaining criteria of eligibility, as for any other birth. Please note that the father is not able to replace the mother during the maternity leave.
Second condition – Cessation of work
You have stopped working during your pregnancy, and did not resume work during the period of entitlement to maternity allowance.
If cessation of work occurred on the first month of pregnancy, you may be entitled to maternity allowance according to remaining criteria of eligibility.
Business conservation and maintenance for a self-employed woman
During the birth and parenthood period you are allowed to undertake actions of business maintenance without prejudice to your entitlement to maternity allowance, provided that you received from us an authorization to that effect (no business maintenance action may be taken before receiving that authorization).
To receive an authorization you have to file a request to the Maternity Department of your local NII branch. You may also file a request to a branch through the website / documents sending service.
Third condition – You have accrued a qualifying periodFor maternity allowance for mother or father: The period of payment of insurance contributions for the employee, or by the self-employed, for 10 out of the 14 months or for 15 out of the 22 months preceding the determining date; for maternity allowance for mother only: also for 6 out of the 14 months preceding the determining date.
You are working as salaried employee or self-employed
You have to accrue an entitling qualifying period (months where you have worked and paid national insurance contributions).
Your period of entitlement to maternity allowance is determined in accordance with your accrued qualifying period:
if you have paid insurance contributions for either 10 of the 14 months, or 15 of the 22 months preceding the cessation of work - you will be entitled to a maximum maternity allowance for a period of 15 weeks (105 days of entitlement).
if you have worked and paid insurance contributions for 6 of the 14 months preceding the cessation of work - you will be entitled to a partial maternity allowance for a period of 8 weeks (56 days of entitlement).
If you are self-employed, please note that, your eligibility for maternity allowance will be examined only if, at the time of the pregnancy, you were registered with the National Insurance as self-employed and had paid insurance contributions in due time.
For the purpose of calculating your qualifying period, only the months you were working and paying insurance contributions will be taken into account.
If you owe a debt to the National Insurance Institute, it is important to settle it before childbirth, or before the first day of entitlement (for those who stopped working before childbirth), in order to avoid the denial of your eligibility for maternity allowance.
If you are studying in a nursing school or in a vocational training
A period of study may be considered a qualifying period in the assessment of your eligibility for maternity allowance. For more information, click here.
Months of work included in the qualifying period (working part of the month is considered a full month work):
Work in Israel - the months you were working as a salaried employee or self-employed in Israel.
Work abroad - the months you were working as an employee abroad, provided that both you and your employer are Israeli residents and have signed an employment agreement in Israel, or those you were a local Israeli workerAn Israeli citizen working as an Israeli representative abroad (in an extension of a government ministry) in a temporary status under the employment rules published by the Civil Service Commission. A person whose spouse is a foreign citizen or who works for a foreign employer will not be employed as a “local Israeli worker.” .
Foreign worker - the months you were working in Israel, and held a valid stay permit for foreign worker.
If you did not work enough months in order to be entitled to maternity allowance, other months than months of work may be taken into account as qualifying period. For further information, click here. Reserve service benefits - the months in which you have served as reservist will be counted as qualifying period.
Maternity allowance eligibility in case of subsequent birth
A woman who became pregnant during a paid maternity leave (8 weeks or 15 weeks), or in the 26 weeks since the prior childbirth if she worked at least a year for an employer for whom she then stopped working - may be entitled to maternity allowance for the next birth, even if she did not return to work.