JEDDAH, 20 May — All Saudi employees will be covered from this September by a pension scheme announced by the General Organization for Social Insurance.
The GOSI’s new regulations governing occupational hazards will also benefit expatriate workers.
“The board of directors of the GOSI has decided to implement the final phase of the social insurance scheme to cover companies with less than 10 employees effective from Sept. 1. In the case of companies following the Hijrah calendar, it will be implemented from Rajab 1 this year,” Governor of the General Organization for Social Insurance, Suleiman ibn Saad Al-Homaid, said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency yesterday.
Currently, GOSI’s pension scheme applies to companies which have more than 10 employees. The new regulations governing pensions and occupational hazards will apply to every establishment in the Kingdom irrespective of their size, the nature of their operations or the number of their employees.
Retired or incapacitated employees, and those who were dependent on an employee who has died, will be paid a monthly pension. An employee should give 7.5 percent of his monthly pay, which will be increased to nine percent in March 2003.
The employer will also pay an amount equal to 9 percent of the worker’s salary.
The regulations governing the occupational hazards will be applicable to Saudis and non-Saudis alike. Employees who are victims of accidents or diseases related to their jobs will be paid for their treatment. They will also be paid daily allowances and monthly payments and, in some cases, a lump sum.
The rate to be paid by the employer for the subsequent medical coverage will be two percent of the monthly salary of the employee. The GOSI governor added that the insurance coverage of all employees in an establishment will be mandatory.
