GOSI urges women not to cash in pensions

The General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI) has urged women contributors not to cash in their pensions if they decide to leave their jobs because this would see them lose retirement, disability and other benefits.
If they hold onto their GOSI membership, it would allow them to link their previous service to any new government job they decide to take up, said Abdullah bin Muhammad Al-Abduljabbar, GOSI's spokesman and director general of insurance information.
If they do not take up new jobs, they should find a way to complete the contracted contribution period.
He said that if women do not cash in their pensions they would qualify for various benefits, including a retirement pension at 55 after completing a contribution period of 120 months; an early retirement pension after completing 300 months; a nonoccupational disability pension after completing 12 months, and an heir's pension after completing three months.
“If the Saudi female contributor takes up a government job, she will have the right to aggregate her contribution periods to qualify for a pension, provided that she does not settle her insurance entitlements under the social insurance scheme.”
Currently more than 433,000 Saudi female contributors are registered with GOSI, he said.
GOSI has 21 field offices in a number of regions and governorates in the Kingdom. Its social insurance scheme covers workers in the private sector and a group of workers in the public sector.
It also provides the contributors and their families with support after leaving work due to retirement, disability or death; medical care for contributors afflicted with work injuries or occupational diseases; and compensation in the event of occupational disability or death.