No social insurance cover for expats during vacation

The General Organization of Social Insurance (GOSI) has announced that from next year it will halt the vocational hazard insurance coverage for expatriates who leave Saudi Arabia for a holiday, in addition to stopping the payment of subscriptions during vacations.
However, expatriates will be able to avail themselves of these benefits on returning to the Kingdom.
The GOSI also declared an increase in the minimum subscription for occupational hazards for non-Saudis and those not included in the SR400-SR800 wage bracket.
The organization through its inspectors has conducted field tours on all sectors related to the implementation of the law, to make sure workers are enrolled with their actual wages, while those employers who fail to register their workers’ actual wages will be subjected to inquiry and fines.
Sulaiman Al-Quwaiz, governor of GOSI, said that the amendments were aimed at facilitating matters for its clients which were in line with using e-services and e-linkage with the relevant government entities.
The most important of these amendments is stopping the implementation of insurance coverage for vocational hazards and their subscription payments during the expatriates’ temporary absence from the Kingdom.
He added that the organization will continue with the implementation of this decision by notifying employers about it; the procedure will be implemented automatically without adding any extra cost to employers, he said.
“The amendments include raising the minimum subscription for vocational hazards to SR800 for expatriates who meet the criteria of vocational hazards insurance. This percentage is paid by the employer and covers work injuries and vocational illnesses. Employers are expected to provide health care costs until the worker is completely healed. Compensations will be given to those who suffer work injury, and in case of death, the compensations will be paid to their families,” Al-Quwaiz said.
He said the aim of this decision is to activate the system’s goals and achieve the interest of the subscriber. He said the value of financial compensations for injury or death will be defined according to the fee registered with the organization. He said the amendment is in line with the actual wages in the labor market, which witnessed a radical increase for non-Saudis that exceed SR800.
He said some wages that are registered with organizations are slightly less than the actual wage, and the organization will not accept any wages that are less than SR800.
He pointed out that these decisions came within a series of reviews of the executive list of social insurance to guarantee its conformity with the ground reality.
“The decision will only affect those registered with a basic salary and accommodation stipend of less than SR800. The monthly increase for each worker will be between SR1 and SR8,” he said.
The decision will be implemented at the beginning of the new year.