Corona and Your Money

With the country practically shut down, there is a lot of confusion about employee and business owners’ rights due to the Corona virus and the effects it is having on the employment market. This article is an overview of the information that is currently available.

Before we get into details, I just want to share that I understand that this can be scary. Please do not panic, we are all in this together and I am here to help and guide and talk with. I truly want to help you live a financially smarter life even through rough times. Also, remember that this won’t last forever! We don’t know how long it will last or how long it will take to recover (since this depends on how long the restrictions last), but at some point, hopefully soon,  we will be back to normal and even to growth.

The government is continually making new announcements, so this article will update as new developments are released. Check back in daily or sign up for the Living Financially Smarter newsletter for updates.

1. If you were put on unpaid leave:

If you are employed and put on unpaid leave, the government will pay you unemployment if you have been working for at least 6 months. The government has eased the conditions, since normally you need to have worked 12 of the last 18 months to be eligible. The unpaid leave is paid only if you are off for more than 30 days. You will get paid for those 30 days. This is unrelated to/unaffected by how many vacation days you have.

To apply there are three things you need to do:

1. 1. 1. Fillow this link to the Bituach Leumi website.
      2. Have this form filled out from your employer: Form 1514בל and upload it to the Bituach Leumi site
      3. Sign up at the unemployment office https://www.taasuka.gov.il/

Although the  Unemployment office (Lishkaat Taasuka) site says that you have to show up at their office, this appears to be inaccurate and applying online is sufficient.

As the Bituach Leumi site has had 100,000 requests this week, it keeps crashing. They are working on fixing that, but in the meantime you will need some patience and might need to apply at 4 am …. Due to the issue on the website, if you apply by the 19^th of March, it’s considered as if you applied by the 15^th. Your unemployment is calculated from when you apply and you can only apply after you have officially finished working.

To understand how much unemployment money you can expect to get, use this calculator

Note: If you are over the age where you can receive pension rights or you are already collecting a pension, you aren’t eligible for unemployment from Bituach Leumi. If you are under 20 you are also not eligible for unemployment.