How long unemployment benefits may be received?


The maximum number of unemployment days for which you might receive unemployment benefits is determined by your age and by the number of persons depending on you (Dependent husband, Dependent wife, child).
The number of days you were granted can be realized over a 12 months period, starting from the 1st of the month you have first reported to Employment Service. Unemployment days are paid to you during that year according to your reporting to Employment Service.
Please note, the maximum period of your entitlement to unemployment benefits can change as results of modifications in your age and the number of your dependents.

Maximum number of unemployment days granted to you based on age and number of dependents

Age groupup to 2 dependents​3 dependents and more
up to 25​​50 days​138 days
25 to 28​​67 days​138 days
28 to 35​​100 days​138 days
​35 to 45​138 days​175 days
45 and above​175 days​175 days


For the maximum number of days you can receive each month, click here.


Additional days of unemployment for women born from 1.1.1960 onwards

Women born from 1.1.1960 onwards will be entitled, since January 2022, to receive unemployment for 300 days at most (instead of 175 days thus far) over a period of 18 months (instead of 12 months).
Please note that a woman who received unemployment days during the Corona period (between March 2020 and December 2021) - those will be accounted for in the number of unemployment days.

Number of unemployment days for a person who submitted claims for unemployment benefit two years in a row

If you did submit unemployment benefit claims two years in a row (e.g. in 2018 and 2019), the number of unemployment days for which you will be able to receive unemployment benefit based on the new claim, will be calculated each month according to the days of unemployment received over the 11 months preceding the month of payment, even though theses unemployment days belong to the previous claim.

Calculation method:
  • If over the previous 11 months you were paid unemployment benefits for the maximum number of unemployment days to which you were entitled - you will not be able to receive unemployment benefits for this month.
  • If over the previous 11 months you were paid unemployment benefits a lower number of unemployment days compared to the maximum unemployment days to which you were entitled - you will receive unemployment benefits for this month up to the completion of all unemployment days to which you are entitled, at most.
Please note, the number of unemployment days you are able to receive is reexamined each month, based on the number of unemployment days paid to you during the previous 11 months. In other words, the value of unemployment days paid in the previous 11 months changes each month.

For instance:
An unemployed person who received unemployment benefits in 2018, submits another claim for unemployment benefits in 2019 and in the new claim, he is granted an entitlement of 175 days of unemployment. This person reports to the Employment Service in the month of 11/2019 and 25 days of unemployment were registered. Days of unemployment to which he or she is entitled is calculated as follows:
  • If during the previous 11 months, from 12/2018 to 10/2019, the unemployed received benefit for 175 days - he or she will not receive any unemployment benefit for the month of 11/2019.
  • If during the previous 11 months the unemployed received benefit for 150 days - he or she will receive in the month of 11/2019 unemployment benefits for 25 days (175-150=25).
  • If during the previous 11 months the unemployed received benefit for 160  days - he or she will  receive in the month of 11/2019 unemployment benefit for 15 days (175-160=15).
And so on in month 12/2019, in order to know how many days of unemployment will be given in this month, we perform the examination of the number of unemployment days paid to him or her in from 1/2019 to 11/2019.

Number of unemployment days for the unemployed who is not aged 40 yet, and submits more than one claim for unemployment benefit within 4 years

The abovementioned principles do not apply to this kind of unemployed person.
The number of days for which you might receive unemployment benefits for all claims will not exceed 180% of the maximum amount of days to which you are entitled.

In other words, if you received unemployment benefits for all of the maximum amount of days, and then submitted another unemployment benefit claim before 4 years had elapsed since the beginning of the previous entitlement, you will again receive unemployment benefits for only 80% of the number of days to which you are entitled.
Afterwards, you will no longer be eligible for unemployment benefits, up to the end of the 4 years period.

Because of the war, a repeat unemployed who has been laid off or put on unpaid leave by this employer in the period between 7.10.23 and 30.12.23, filed a new claim for unemployment benefit during that period, and used up all days of entitlement to unemployment benefit - will receive an automatic extension of unemployment days until 30.12.23 or until the end of the Temporary Order, even if all his 180% days of eligibility have been exhausted over 4 years.

To learn more about repeat unemployed individual aged 40 and older, click here.

Number of unemployment days for discharged soldiers, for those completing national service and those studying in vocational training

Decrease in the number of your unemployment days

If the Employment Service offered you a suitable work, training, advanced training or professional retraining, and you declined this offer, 30 days will be taken off the amount of days to which you are entitled, and you will not receive payment of unemployment benefit for 90 days since the day of refusal, and this each time you decline an offer.

Unemployment benefits were paid for the maximum amount of unemployment days due to you

If you were paid unemployment benefits for all unemployment days to which you were entitled, and you did not find a job yet, you can check your eligibility for income support benefit.

For more information about conditions of entitlement to income support, click here.