Women following childbirth may be entitled to unemployment benefits even during a period of unpaid leave after maternity leave, when justified circumstances prevent them from returning to work, according to a ruling issued last week by the Regional Labor Court in Tel Aviv, which upheld the claim of an employee of the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics.
The ruling determined that an amendment to the National Insurance Law enacted during the COVID-19 period did not abolish the arrangement that had been practiced for years by the National Insurance Institute, under which such eligibility was recognized in appropriate cases.
The employee worked at the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics and lived in the settlement of Eli Zahav in the West Bank, more than 40 kilometers from her workplace in Jerusalem.
After giving birth in September 2021, she remained on paid maternity leave until the end of December that year, in accordance with her entitlement under the Women’s Employment Law. Upon the conclusion of her paid maternity and parental leave period, she applied for unemployment benefits. However, the National Insurance Institute rejected her claim, arguing that the unpaid leave was not imposed by her employer, as required, according to its interpretation following Amendment 225 to the National Insurance Law.
Senior Judge Kamel Abou Kaoud, together with public representatives Orna Avidan and Yoel Paldi, ruled that for years the National Insurance Institute had recognized the eligibility of women after childbirth for unemployment benefits even when employment relations were not terminated, meaning they were not dismissed, provided that justified circumstances existed preventing their return to work.
Among these circumstances were a significant distance from the workplace, working hours that do not allow care for an infant, shift work, and similar conditions.
A question of principle with broad implications
The court rejected the position of the National Insurance Institute, according to which Amendment 225—enacted in the context of the COVID-19 crisis to regulate the eligibility of employees placed on unpaid leave at the initiative of their employers for unemployment benefits—revoked the longstanding arrangement regarding women after childbirth.
The ruling clarified that neither the wording of the law, nor its explanatory notes, nor the parliamentary debates contained any indication that the legislature intended to revoke a social right that had been recognized for years, as argued by the National Insurance Institute.
Therefore, the court ruled that the National Insurance Institute’s interpretation would have led to harm to a group of women for whom social protection eligibility had been recognized over the years, without the legislature intending such a result.
It was further ruled that claims by women after childbirth must continue to be examined according to the criteria that were in effect prior to the amendment to the law. Accordingly, the court determined that the employee is entitled to unemployment benefits for the claimed period, subject to the remaining eligibility conditions.
In addition, the court ordered the National Insurance Institute to pay the plaintiff legal expenses and attorney’s fees in the amount of 10,000 shekels, and noted that this was a case that raised a fundamental legal question with broad implications.
The employee was represented in the proceedings by attorneys Merav Shacham and Karen Mamo. Supporting the position were also the Na’amat women’s organization, through attorney Gali Etzion; the Israel Women’s Network, through attorney Gali Zinger; and the Itach-Maaki organization, through attorney Ela Alon—all of which emphasized that this is a principled issue with wide-ranging implications for women after childbirth.
