The National Insurance Institute announced today (Thursday) that the number of applicants for unemployment benefits and unpaid leave in October (since the beginning of the month and not since the beginning of the fighting) reached almost 31,15, of whom 488,50 were on unpaid leave. This number is about <>% higher than during normal times, and it can be assumed that this number will only increase.
The direct hit on a house in Petah Tikva // Photo: Fire and Rescue Service Spokesperson's Office
For the sake of comparison, during normal times – the average number of applications for unemployment benefits is about 20,23 per month, and in the summer, July-August (summer unpaid leave) – there were about <>,<> applicants for unemployment benefits.
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The National Insurance Institute also reports that since the beginning of the war until today, 15,406 applications for unemployment benefits have been submitted as part of involuntary unpaid leave. It was also reported that in the past 5 hours, 683,2 applicants for unemployment benefits from the National Insurance Institute were added, of whom 585,<> were on involuntary unpaid leave.
Following the war, many businesses began to take unpaid vacations, including restaurants, cafes, clothing stores and more. It should be noted that the Ministry of Finance's assistance plan for dealing with the war does not include solutions for workers in the form of unpaid leave, but only partial compensation for workers' wages. Therefore, a large portion of those placed on unpaid leave will not be entitled to unemployment benefits unless the state changes the conditions for their eligibility.
Today, the National Insurance Institute's conditions for receiving unemployment benefits on unpaid leave are very restrictive, and include a permit period of at least 30 days, utilization of the entire accumulated vacation balance, an eligibility period of 12 months out of 18, and more.
Earlier this week, Fox and Hamashbir Consumer announced that thousands of employees would be placed on unpaid leave. According to the Association of Trade Networks, the Association of Chambers of Commerce warned against putting 100,000 employees of the trading chains out of 300,000 on unpaid leave. This, they said, is because the aid plan published by the Israeli government does not provide a solution for workers' wages for most companies in the economy.
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