Btl-cc-by-NC-SA-Lior-BakaluGreat news for disadvantaged populations: Income support recipients will be able to get help from their families without this leading to the denial of their benefits.
The National Labor Court has ruled that assistance from relatives with rent will not be considered when calculating the “income” of those seeking income support. This means that approximately 100,000 benefit recipients will be able to get help from their families with accommodation, without this leading to the denial of their benefits.
ACRI was involved in the case in which three people who were eligible for income support appealed against the National Insurance Institute of Israel (NII). The case arose because the NII denied people benefits when they discovered that they were receiving assistance from family members with their rental payments. After receiving contradictory judgments in the Regional Labor Court, the issue was taken to the National Labor Court. ACRI joined the hearing as amicus curiae, and claimed that the Income Support Law does not give the National Insurance Institute the authority to deny allowances based on assistance from relatives. The National Labor Court passed a landmark ruling that the National Insurance Institute procedure, which prescribes that allowances should be denied in such cases, is invalid and made an order to nullify the procedure.
To date, the NII has held that entitlements can be revoked in cases where relatives or other private sources regularly help the income recipient to pay their rent. This verdict, which was made by an extended panel of the National Labor Court, overturns that procedure.
“We are pleased that the court accepted our position and ruled that the Income Support Law has a central role in protecting the right to live with dignity. Today, income support is insufficient to cover normal living expenses, many people cannot survive only on a pension and are forced to turn to relatives for further assistance,” said Attorney Maskit Bendel, Director of ACRI’s Right to Live in Dignity Program.
“The procedures of the National Insurance Institute presented people with an impossible dilemma: On the one hand, the benefit is not enough and without further assistance from relatives they may be homeless; and on the other hand, if their parents helped them to pay their rent, then the NII would deny them their allowance altogether,” added Mr. Gil Gan-Mor, Director of the Social and Economic Rights Unit at ACRI. “The ruling of the National Labor Court states that the right to housing overpowers other factors, as the law does not require anyone to sell their house as a condition of receiving a benefit or prescribe that people should give up assistance from their parents or relatives that they need to pay rent.”
Next week another similar case is expected to come before the National Labor Court, involving the revocation of income support benefits due to assistance from relatives, that is unrelated to rent or accommodation. ACRI is also involved in these proceedings. The precedent established by the National Labor Court in this case is expected to impact on the hearing next week.
To read the judgement in Hebrew please click here.
