Social Insurance Law

Purpose and scope

• Governs social insurance in three branches: pensions, occupational hazards and supplementary compensation, and unemployment insurance (Article 3); years and months are Gregorian (Article 2).
• The pension branch applies compulsorily to all Saudi civil servants and Saudi workers in the Kingdom or abroad for an employer based in the Kingdom, and optionally to those working abroad with no local employer (Article 14).

Key rules, rights and obligations

• The employer alone is liable to the Organisation for paying the full contributions for itself and the participant, and may deduct the participant's share from the wage (Article 9).
• The statutory pension age is sixty-five; early pension of up to 120 months earlier is allowed for a person who has stopped working and has at least 360 months of contributions (Article 16).
• The family receives a death pension if the participant dies in service with at least 3 consecutive or 6 non-consecutive months of contributions (Article 23); one beneficiary gets 50% and two or more get 75% shared equally, and children qualify up to 21, or 24 if studying (Article 24).
• The occupational-hazards contribution is 2%, paid by the employer (Article 29); total permanent disability from a work injury gives a monthly allowance equal to 100% of average wage (Article 35), and a non-Saudi receives a lump sum instead (Article 39).
• Maternity compensation is three months at 100% of average wage, plus one month if the child is ill or disabled and needs constant care (Articles 41 and 42).
• The unemployment contribution is 2%, split equally between employer and participant (Article 44); a first claim requires 12 months of work in the preceding 36 (Article 46), and benefit lasts at most 12 months each time (Article 47).

Violations, penalties and common problems

• Late payment of contributions incurs a 2% charge on the amount due for each month or part of a month of delay (Article 9).
• Breaches of the law or regulation carry a fine of up to fifty thousand riyals, doubled for a repeat; no fine may be imposed for a breach five or more years old, but it must still be corrected and wrongly paid sums refunded (Article 59).
• Common problems: registering a lower wage than the real one, not registering the worker at all, and late reporting of work injuries.

Procedures and key deadlines

• Decisions of the primary medical committees may be appealed to the appeal medical committees within thirty days of notification (Article 50).
• Claims for daily injury allowances and travel and accommodation allowances are not accepted after one year from entitlement, and other compensation after five years, unless the Organisation accepts an excuse (Article 54).
• A committee hears violations and imposes penalties, and its decision may be challenged before the competent court (Article 60).

An advisory summary prepared by Al-Bayan Al-Wadih Law Firm. It is not an official text and does not replace the law, its implementing regulations, or advice from a specialised lawyer. The official published text and its amendments prevail.