RIYADH: According to the spokesman of the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI), Abdullah Al-Abd Al-Jabbar, a Saudi employee is entitled to compensation for his or her unemployment if the employer ends his contract for any reason not directly related to the employee themselves.

The employee can also ask for compensation upon leaving the workplace if the employer breaches any contractual or statutory obligations toward the employee such as non-payment of salaries on time, Al-Jabbar said.

Accordingly, the employee retains the right to claim a delayed salary from his or her employer, as well as end–of-service benefits.

He also said that the insurance system for unemployment is aimed at protecting Saudi workers in both the government and private sectors, and is subject to the social security system. It provides a monthly income source to the worker during the transitional period between their previous job and the new one.

The compensation is calculated at 60 percent of the average salary of the last two years, subject to GOSI subscription for each month of the first three months to a maximum of SR9,000, and at 50 percent for the following months to a maximum of SR7,500, he said.

Regarding the compensation period, he said that the maximum period for compensation money is 12 months.