Injury allowance

A person who is injured at work is entitled to an injury allowance under the following conditions:

1.   He provides a medical certificate from the doctor treating him or from a work injuries clinic, which states the period of time that he is unable to work.

2.   He did not actually work during that period of time.

An injury allowance is designed to compensate an insured for the loss of salary or income due to a work injury, and it is paid for the period of time in which the injured person did not work at any job and required medical treatment, for a maximum of 13 weeks (91 days which begin the day after the injury).

For an insured who is a  salaried employee or self-employed - 75% of his income that is subject to insurance contributions, in the 3 months preceding the first of the month in which he stopped working due to the injury, divided by 90, up to the maximum injury allowance per day of NIS 1,059.38 (as of 01.01.2012) .

        An insured who is entitled to both a work injury allowance and a reserve duty benefit at the same time must choose one of the two benefits.

         During the time that the insured is entitled to a work injury allowance, he is not entitled to an unemployment benefit.

        The injury allowance that is paid to an injured person is considered income from the standpoint of entitlement to income support.

In order to receive an injury allowance, the injured person must fill out the form Claim for Payment of a Work Injury Allowance and Notice of a Work Injury, and send it as promptly as possible to the National Insurance Institute branch closest to the place of residence, along with a medical certificate from the attending doctor at the health fund, or from a work injuries clinic, or from a government / public hospital, regarding the injured person's incapacity to work.

The claim should be submitted through the employer, in cases in which the employer is given permission, within a reasonable time, to pay his employees an injury allowance instead of, or on behalf of, the National Insurance Institute.

The claim for a work injury allowance should be submitted to the National Insurance Institute within 12 months from the date on which the injured person became unable to work. Submission of the claim after that time may adversely affect entitlement to the benefit, in whole or in part. It is best to submit the claim as soon as possible after the injury.

A resident of Israel who is injured while working abroad, and who meets the conditions of entitlement to a work injury benefit, should send a claim for an injury allowance directly to the National Insurance Institute or via the Israeli consulate in the country in which he is staying.

The injury allowance will be paid into the insured’s bank account in Israel (as specified in his claim).

The decision of the National Insurance Institute can be appealed to the Regional Labor Court. The appeal (“action”) must be filed with the court within 6 months of the date of receipt of written notification by the National Insurance Institute regarding its decision.

A person whose claim for an injury allowance is denied and who wishes to appeal that decision to the Labor Court, is entitled to request free legal aid from the Legal Aid Bureau of Ministry of Justice in his area of residence.

Since the process of decision-making on claims for injury allowance is a lengthy one, the claim form for an injury allowance serves initially as a claim for accident allowance (for salaried employees and the self-employed only – not for prisoners or persons in vocational training), until a decision is made on entitlement to injury allowance. If the claim for injury allowance is eventually approved, the claimant will receive the injury allowance, from which the accident allowance that he previously received is deducted. If the claim is denied, the claimant continues to receive accident allowance only.

A claim that is not signed by the applicant will be returned to the insured without processing.