In force Last amended 16/11/1443 AH
Saudi Civil Retirement Law
نظام التقاعد المدني
The Civil Retirement Law of Saudi Arabia. This page presents the official Arabic text of each article with plain-English explanations for residents and businesses.
- Articles
- 41
- In force
- 41
- Amended
- 6
- Issued
- 29/7/1393 AH
Issued by: مرسوم ملكي رقم م/41 بتاريخ 29 / 7 / 1393 · قرار مجلس الوزراء رقم 939 بتاريخ 24 / 7 / 1393
Each article shows the official Arabic text, which is the only legally binding version, followed by our plain-English explanation.
Browse Civil Retirement Law by topic
Persons Covered by the Civil Retirement Law6 articlesRetirement Fund and Its Board7 articlesRetirement Deductions3 articlesRetirement Age and Extension of Service2 articlesService Counted Toward Retirement3 articlesConditions for Entitlement to a Retirement Pension3 articlesCalculating the Retirement Pension2 articlesDisability and In-Service Death Pension3 articlesRetirement End-of-Service Award3 articlesPension of Heirs and Beneficiaries6 articlesCombining Pension and Salary3 articlesAttachment of the Retirement Pension1 articlePension Paid Without Entitlement1 article
Articles of the Saudi Civil Retirement Law
- Article 1The Article defines the key terms of the Civil Retirement Law, such as employee, public body, retiree, pension, gratuity, pensioner and beneficiary.
- Article 2The Article defines who is covered by the Civil Retirement Law, namely Saudi civilian employees appointed to grades, with rules for those holding more than one grade and for ministers who receive monthly allowances.
- Article 3The Fund has an independent financial liability and is managed by the Retirement Pensions Agency, an independent agency linked administratively to the Ministry of Finance, which the Council of Ministers may entrust with implementing other retirement laws.
- Article 4Except for managing the Fund's investments, the Agency is subject to the General Civil Service Law, the Hired Staff Law and the State's financial regulations, and is headed by a director general assisted by a deputy.
- Article 5The Article sets the composition of the Pension Fund's board of directors, chaired by the Minister of Finance, and the way it meets, its quorum and how its decisions are issued.
- Article 6The Article gives the board of directors management of the Fund and supervision of the Agency, and lists its powers over implementing the Law, investment, the budget, auditing and the final account.
- Article 7The Agency's director general is responsible to the board of directors for the conduct of its work, and the board determines his powers in managing the Agency and investing the Fund's money.
- Article 8The Fund's financial position must be reviewed every three years by an actuary or a specialized institution, and the board of directors submits the report to the Council of Ministers with its comments and proposals.
- Article 9The Article deals with how a deficit in the retirement fund is settled and allows new benefits to be added for beneficiaries when there is a surplus, both requiring Council of Ministers approval.
- Article 10The Agency is liable only for pensions and retirement entitlements that fell due under this Law and the 1378 and 1381 AH retirement laws; the Ministry of Finance or the public body bears those that fell due under earlier laws.
- Article 11The Article transfers the rights and obligations under the 1381 AH retirement law to this Law, and increases existing pensions by graduated percentages, up to a maximum of SAR 2,000.
- Article 12The Agency may refer anyone under fifty who receives a disability pension to a medical examination, suspends the pension if he refuses, and resettles his case if refusal continues or recovery is shown.
- Article 13A 9% deduction is taken from the salary of the employee covered by the Law each month, the Ministry of Finance or the public body pays a matching share, and the Council of Ministers may increase the government's share.
- Article 14The deductions and the share are calculated on the basis of the full basic salary, without the additions granted on it.
- Article 15An employee is retired by operation of law on reaching sixty, his service may be extended to sixty-five only by Council of Ministers decision, ministers and judges are excepted, and exceptionally beyond sixty-five by royal decree.
- Article 16Service counted for retirement is actual time spent in posts covered by the Law, excluding unauthorized absence, unpaid leave other than sick and study leave, periods of suspension from duty without pay, and fractions of a month.
- Article 17Secondment and unpaid study leave count toward retirement if the deductions due are paid on the basis of the full salary of the original post, with rules for how and when they are paid and the effect of failing to pay.
- Article 18An employee is entitled to a pension after 25 years of counted service, or 20 years at his request with the appointing authority's approval, or 15 years if his post is abolished or he is dismissed other than for disciplinary reasons, and in other cases.Amended
- Article 19The pension is settled at one-fortieth of the last monthly salary for each year of service counted for retirement, with a maximum of forty years.Amended
- Article 20The pension of an employee who dies or is dismissed for total disability is settled on 40% of his last monthly salary or the pension for his counted service under Article 19, whichever is greater.
- Article 21The pension of an employee who dies or is dismissed for total disability arising from work is settled on four-fifths of his last monthly salary, and injuries on the way to and from work count as work injuries.
- Article 22When a minister who is a member of the Council of Ministers leaves service, his pension is settled by whichever of two methods is better for him, and may in no case exceed four-fifths of his salary as minister.
- Article 23An employee whose service ends before reaching pension eligibility receives a gratuity of 14% of the annual salary for each year, or 10% if service ends by resignation or disciplinary dismissal.Amended M/118
- Article 23 bisPayment of the retirement gratuity requires reaching sixty or death, a pension is due after ten years of service and age sixty, and someone with five years may request a notional period be added to qualify for a pension.
- Article 24After a pensioner dies, a pension is fixed for the beneficiaries equal to the full pension if there are three or more, three-quarters if two, and half if one, divided equally among them.
- Article 24 bisA pensioner whose disappearance is established by a final court judgment is treated as deceased for the beneficiaries' rights, and his rights are resettled retroactively if he turns out to be alive.Amended
- Article 25The Article lists the beneficiaries of a pensioner, and requires anyone other than the wife, son and daughter to have depended on him for support at his death, leaving the board of directors to set the rules.Amended
- Article 26The pension of male children, sons' children and brothers is cut off at age 21, except for a regular student until 26 or graduation, and a totally disabled person until the disability ends.
- Article 27The pension of a wife, daughter, son's daughter and sister is suspended on marriage, and the mother's if she marries someone other than the deceased's father, and it is restored on divorce or widowhood.
- Article 28Payment of the pension stops if its holder or beneficiary is appointed to a permanent government post with a salary equal to or above the pension; a shortfall is paid, and combining is allowed up to SAR 400.
- Article 29A beneficiary may not receive more than one pension; the larger is paid, but several may be combined if their total does not exceed SAR 300 per month.
- Article 30When a beneficiary's share lapses or is suspended it becomes the Fund's right and does not pass to the other beneficiaries, but the remaining beneficiaries' share may not fall below 50% of the pension.
- Article 31A pensioner who returns to a post covered by the Law has his pension suspended during that service, and on its end he is treated by whichever of two methods is better for him.
- Article 32An employee who is reinstated may have earlier service counted if he applies within a year of returning and repays what he received for it, in a single payment within six months or in installments.
- Article 33The Ministry of Finance or the public bodies pay a percentage of the salaries of hired staff in service when the Law took effect, for their earlier service, 9% for those who did not join the 1381 AH retirement law and 6% for those who did.
- Article 34The article relies on the birth certificate or the civil registry to determine the age of the retiree or beneficiary, and treats birth as the start of the seventh month of the Hijri year if the day and month are not specified.
- Article 35The article provides that entitlement to the pension begins for the retiree on the day after the end of service, and for the beneficiaries on the day after the retiree's death.
- Article 36The article provides that where a pensioner who became entitled to the pension before this Law took effect dies after it took effect, the beneficiaries are treated under the provisions of this Law.
- Article 37The article prohibits attachment of the pension except at 25%, by order of the Prime Minister for government debts or by court judgment for other debts, with the maintenance debt taking priority over other debts.
- Article 38The article provides that an employee who no longer holds Saudi Arabian nationality is granted an award calculated under Article 23 of the Law.Amended
- Article 39The article penalizes anyone who in bad faith gave incorrect data or withheld required data and so obtained, or caused others to obtain, money from the Fund without right, with a fine not exceeding those amounts.