Maternity Allowance

The maximum maternity allowance for 14 weeks (98 days of entitlement) is paid to a new mother who stopped working during her pregnancy which ended in a birth, and for whom insurance contributions were paid before the determining date as follows:
10 of the 14 months preceding the determining date or
15 of the 22 months preceding the determining date.
Half the maternity allowance is paid if insurance contributions were paid for her for 6 of the 14 months preceding the determining date.
For a self-employed worker, the maternity allowance is based on the periods of work for which she paid insurance contributions.

The day on which the insured woman ceased working while pregnant, this pregnancy terminating in a birth.

1.   A salaried employee or a self-employed woman who is
     working in Israel (even if she is not an Israeli resident);

2.   A salaried employee who is working outside of Israel, provided that she and her employer are Israeli residents and her employment contract was signed in Israel or she is an Israeli local worker.

3.   A woman at least 18 years of age who is undergoing vocational training or vocational rehabilitation at a place certified for that purpose (recognized schools for registered nurses and practical nurses and places in which the training or rehabilitation is provided in cooperation with the Division of Vocational Training and Continuing Education of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor in the subject she is studying, according to a syllabus of at least 35 hours a week for 6 consecutive months), provided that she worked as an employee or was self-employed at least 30 consecutive days before the date on which she stopped working during her pregnancy.

In order to receive the maternity allowance, you must fill out a maternity allowance claim form and submit it (in person or by mail) to the National Insurance Institute branch closest to your place of residence, along with certification of the birth from the hospital.

         A salaried employee
         A self-employed person
        A person who was undergoing vocational training or vocational rehabilitation
         A soldier who left military service

The claim form may be submitted to the National Insurance Institute closest to the date on which the expectant mother stopped working, but no earlier then 9 weeks before the due date of the birth. A woman who submits the form before the birth should ask her doctor to authorize the due date of the birth on the form (and in any case, no later than 12 months from the first date of entitlement to the maternity allowance).

Entitlement to a maternity allowance begins from the first day on which the expectant mother stopped working and, at the earliest, 49 days before the due date of the birth (as determined by the doctor) for someone who is entitled to a maternity allowance for 14 weeks or, at the earliest, 24 days before the due date of the birth for someone who is entitled to a maternity allowance for 7 weeks.

The maternity allowance is paid in one payment in the middle of the maternity leave, into the bank account of the entitled mother.
The maternity allowance is a wage-replacing benefit but it is limited to the maximum income for payment of insurance contributions to a salaried employee and a self-employed worker in the month that preceded the date on which the expectant mother stopped working,. The maximum daily maternity allowance benefit is NIS 1,345.67 (as of 01.01.2010) .

a. If a new mother, who is a salaried employee, did not receive her full pay in the three months preceding the first of the month in which she stopped working (due to illness, accident, strike, work stoppage, a death in the family or for any other reason beyond her control), and she has the relevant authorizations, the possibility of providing her with a salary supplement for the purpose of calculating the maternity allowance will be examined.

b. If a new mother reduced her work schedule due to her pregnancy in the three months preceding the first of the month in which she stopped working, her maternity allowance is calculated according to her income in the three months preceding the day on which she reduced her work schedule.

National and health insurance contributions and income tax are deducted from the maternity allowance at the rate prescribed by law. The National Insurance Institute is entitled to deny the right to a maternity allowance, in whole or in part, to a new mother who works outside her household during the time for which she is paid a maternity allowance.

If a self-employed woman is in arrears in the payment of insurance contributions, the National Insurance Institute is entitled to offset the maternity allowance due to her against the debt.

A father is entitled to replace his spouse during part of the maternity leave to care for the child, and to receive payment for the leave, if he and his spouse worked and accumulated an insurance period entitling them to a maternity allowance for 14 weeks, and the wife agrees to the father replacing her.

The father can replace the mother after she has been on maternity leave for at least 6 consecutive weeks after the birth and his leave will be at least 21 days.

         A multiple birth (more than one child)
         Hospitalization of the newborn or the new mother
         Extended hospitalization of the newborn
         Splitting the maternity leave
         Notice of extension or splitting of the maternity leave