In August 2022 individuals logging into the Bituach Leumi website noticed that requirements regarding Bituach Leumi (National Insurance) payments for foreign caregivers had changed.
Unfortunately, but the instructions regarding the change were contradictory and confusing.
Of late, however, employers and agencies have received written notice of the change and its effective date.
Here is what you need to know:
As of August 2022, every employer must make Bituach Leumi payments for its foreign caregiver in an amount equal to 2% of the caregiver's total wages. For purposes of this calculation, wages include base salary (including "pocket money"), payment for work on rest days and holidays, and recuperation pay. This new policy is a change to the previous policy which required employers to pay only on that portion of wages that exceeded ILS 5500/month.
If you receive hours from Bituach Leumi and are employing a caregiver through a nursing care agency (i.e., your hours go to the Agency and the Agency generates a monthly payslip), then you must pay 2% on your portion of the wages, i.e., the amount you actually pay to the caregiver each month.
The new requirements are effective as of August 2022; employers are recommended to pay retroactively to cover any deficit in 3rd Quarter of 2022 (July – September).
In the guidelines, Bituach Leumi separates payment requirements (mandatory) and reporting requirements (mandatory in cases when salary is NIS 5500/month). For administrative ease we recommend paying and reporting simultaneously online (see link below).
Reminders:
Payments are made to Bituach Leumi quarterly (payments are due on the 20th of the month following the end of the quarter).
Should your caregiver submit a claim for a benefit from Bituach Leumi (work injury, maternity allowance, etc.), Bituach Leumi will ask for supporting documents regarding wage payments, such as printouts of the bank account into which wage deposits were made by check or bank transfer, in order to calculate the benefit rate. We highly recommend keeping records of all wages paid to a foreign caregiver.
For More Information: Bituach Leumi call center number *6050 or *9696