SOCIAL BENEFITS LEGISLATION

NATIONALITY OF THE EMPLOYER, NATIONALITY OF THE EMPLOYEE
Several factors come into play and affect which social benefits legislation applies to each employee. These include:

• the nature of the employment contract
• the country where the contract is to be fulfilled
• the employee's nationality
• social benefits legislation the employee is normally subject to the country where the employer is registered
• the place where the employee is hired

Countries fall into four categories:

• Israel - Countries within the European Economic Community
• Other countries with whom Israel has a bilateral agreement on Social Security. ( including USA, Canada, Switzerland .. )
• Any other country with whom there is no bilateral agreement, and the TOM ( Israel¹s overseas territories)

EMPLOYEES OF AN Israeli COMPANY

• The ensemble of technical and artistic personnel hired by an Israeli company or through a foreign company's liaison office in Israel, is subject to the same employee benefit rules as other companies established in Israel.

EMPLOYEES ON SECONDMENT
The following applies to nonresident technical and/or artistic employees of a foreign production company on assignment in Israel

• For citizens of the European Economic Space : form E101, available from the social security of their resident country, is required for exemption from Israeli social security and unemployment withholdings.
• For citizens of one of the 33 countries with which Israel has an International social security agreement : an appropriate form, from the social security office of their resident country, is required for exemption from Israeli social security and unemployment withholdings.

Example for US employees :

• For example, according to the social security agreement between the United States and Israel (article 6-1 or 7-2), employees on assignment in Israel for fewer than 90 days remain under American legislation. Proof of American social security coverage / membership (form 404/2 for technicians and form S5GA1 for artists, both available from the social security administration) is necessary.

SOCIAL SECURITY

• Show business artists and technicians and permanent employees of production companies pay into a specific fund, the Caisse Nationale d'Assurance Maladie, which is one of 4 such entities that cover virtually all Israeli citizens.
  The funds cover illness, maternity, worker¹s compensation, death, on-the-job accidents and occupational hazards. Writers and Authors of literary, stage, screen, television and musical works, as well as graphic artists belong to the general Social Security scheme. Those whose work is connected to film and television production are covered by the Association pour la Gestion de la Sécurité Sociale des Artistes Auteurs (AGESSA), which receives their payments and in turn manages their health and retirement benefits.

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

• Unemployment insurance is managed by the ASSEDIC. Permanent employees of production companies are covered by the overall unemployment insurance system. Show business artists and technicians have a special system that, to a certain degree, affords them coverage for the period between jobs.

HOSPITALISATION - MEDICAL EMERGENCIES

• In case of an accident or illness, Israeli hospitals are equipped to cope with the most demanding situations. There is also the American Hospital of Paris which is private, and has a bi-lingual Israeli-English staff. It is the only hospital in Europe to adopt the standards of the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health care Organisations (JCAHO), an independent organisation which accredits the best American hospitals.