Friday 6 December 2013

The General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI) has called on all private and public entities to register with various government agencies to ensure their workers can be covered for retirement, death and disability benefits. Firms should register on the electronic system of the Ministry of Commerce and other government bodies to ensure GOSI can access their details and ensure coverage and other services. This is part of the Ministry of Labor's attempt to create links between all government databases and electronic systems. GOSI said it has processed over 36 million transactions in 2013, for 400,000 firms employing about 8.5 million workers.

The organization had 2 million workers registered 10 years ago. GOSI made the appeal at an open meeting held at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) on Tuesday. The meeting was hosted by the JCCI's industrial committee at Saleh Al-Turki Hall and included 250 employers and private sector representatives, as well as the organization's officials. Adnan Mandoura, JCCI's secretary-general, his assistant Muhiddin bin Yahya Hakami, Abdulwahab bin Abdulhamid Hariri, GOSI's assistant director-general, and officials from the two parties attended the meeting. "In 2014, a user name and a password would be sent automatically to an establishment's owner after registration," said Hariri.

He said GOSI would hold several workshops throughout the Kingdom to educate company owners about how to manage their electronic accounts, including registering and removing employees, and the impact of their transactions on their classification under the Nitaqat system. Mandoura said there was cooperation between the chamber, private sector establishments and GOSI. "The insurance system represents social solidarity and cooperation. It provides employees of the private sector, government employees and their families, with dignified living after retirement," he said. It provides medical care for work-related injuries and diseases and offers compensation in cases of disability or death.

Abdullah Mohammad Al-Mitlani, GOSI's director of subscriber services, said the organization was considering how to deduct social insurance fees during expatriates' absence from the Kingdom. "After establishing electronic linkages with the Ministry of Interior, GOSI has access to the departure and arrival data of expatriates. Expatriates leaving the Kingdom permanently should be excluded from social insurance immediately," he said. GOSI provides firms a 15-day grace period before starting to add a 2 percent fine for late payments. "GOSI sends nonpayment information to Nitaqat if payments are not made for two months," he said.

There is also a payment system for non-Saudi subscribers if they are injured at work. If a subscriber suffers a 100 percent disability, he gets a lump sum for 84 months, with a maximum amount of SR330,000, he said. If he suffers from a disability of 50 to 99 percent, he gets a lump sum of 60 months of the assumed value of his subscription, of no more than SR165,000. If the subscriber dies at work, his family gets a lump sum of 84 months from the assumed value of his subscription, limited to SR330,000. The money would be distributed equally among his family. GOSI would prepare and transport the deceased worker to his home country for burial.

© Arab News 2013