In force
Saudi Social Insurance Law
نظام التأمينات الاجتماعية
The Social Insurance Law of Saudi Arabia. This page presents the official Arabic text of each article with plain-English explanations for residents and businesses.
- Articles
- 63
- In force
- 63
- Amended
- 0
- Issued
- 26/12/1445 AH
Issued by: مرسوم ملكي رقم (م/273) وتاريخ 1445/12/26هـ · قرار مجلس الوزراء رقم (1022) وتاريخ 1445/12/26هـ
Each article shows the official Arabic text, which is the only legally binding version, followed by our plain-English explanation.
Browse Social Insurance Law by topic
Social Insurance Subscription21 articlesRetirement Pension9 articlesDisability and Death Pension10 articlesWork Injuries16 articlesMaternity Compensation2 articlesSANED Unemployment Compensation7 articlesCombining Pensions and Compensation10 articlesSocial Insurance Violations and Objection4 articles
Articles of the Saudi Social Insurance Law
الباب الأول: الأحكام العامةArticles 1–13
- Article 1The article defines the key terms used in the Social Insurance Law, such as employer, employee, worker, subscriber, compensation and insurance products.
- Article 2The article provides that a year and a month under the Social Insurance Law are counted by the Gregorian calendar.
- Article 3The article lists the three social insurance branches covered by the Law: pensions, occupational hazards and supplementary compensation, and unemployment insurance.
- Article 4The article gives the Institution's Board of Directors the power to create optional savings programs in coordination with the relevant authorities, in accordance with the provisions set by the Regulations.
- Article 5The article allows the Council of Ministers, on the Board of Directors' proposal, to create compulsory insurance products for Saudi self-employed persons and for certain categories of non-Saudi workers.
- Article 6The article lists categories of workers who are not subject to the insurance branches automatically, but as the Board of Directors decides and in accordance with the provisions set by the Regulations.
- Article 7The article refers to the Regulations the method of enrollment in social insurance and the deadlines for enrolling and removing subscribers, for employers and for subscribers themselves when the employer fails to act.
- Article 8The article sets the wage on which insurance contributions are calculated, caps it at SAR 45,000 per month, and requires the employer to submit wage data to the Institution.
- Article 9The article requires the employer to pay all contributions due for the employer and the subscriber, imposes a 2% penalty for each month of delay, and ties qualifying contribution periods to the periods actually paid.
- Article 10The article requires government entities and state-owned companies to demand from an employer dealing with them a certificate from the Institution proving that it is registered and has met its obligations, or is not subject to the Law, in specified cases.
- Article 11The article gives contributions and late penalties a privilege ranking after wages, and allows the Institution to attach and enforce against an employer's funds under conditions.
- Article 12The article provides a separate account for each insurance branch, savings program and insurance product, and allows the Board of Directors to merge the accounts of the branches.
- Article 13The article requires the Institution to carry out an actuarial study of each branch, program and product at least every three years, and requires the State to cover the actual deficit when assets are insufficient.
الباب الثاني: فرع المعاشاتArticles 14–27
- Article 14The article sets out who is subject to the pensions branch on a compulsory basis, namely Saudi employees and workers under conditions, and allows voluntary contribution by Saudis working abroad without a local employer.
- Article 15The article sets the pensions branch contribution at 22% of the contributory wage, shared equally between the employer and the subscriber, and borne entirely by a voluntary subscriber.
- Article 16The article sets the statutory age of entitlement at 65, the conditions for obtaining a pension on reaching it, and the possibility of early retirement of no more than 120 months under conditions.
- Article 17The article explains how the retirement pension is calculated, its two minimum amounts, its 3% reduction per year for early retirement, and the same-rate increase for those who keep working after the statutory age.
- Article 18The article governs a person receiving an early pension who returns to work subject to the Law before the statutory age, setting how much of the pension may be combined with the wage according to the wage level.
- Article 19The article sets the conditions for a non-occupational disability pension, how it is calculated with a minimum, and a 50% increase for someone who needs another person's help in daily life.
- Article 20The article gives a subscriber the right to a pension if a non-occupational disability occurs while not in service, once the contribution period has reached the qualifying period for a pension.
- Article 21The article sets when a subscriber is considered to have a non-occupational disability, makes the disability pension temporary subject to periodic examinations, and makes it final on reaching the statutory age of entitlement.
- Article 22The article provides that a non-occupational disability pension is suspended if its holder returns to work subject to the Law before the statutory age, during the period of work preceding the date of entitlement to the Article 16 pension.
- Article 23The article sets the cases in which a deceased subscriber's family members are entitled to a death pension: death while in service, death after leaving work, or death of a pensioner.
- Article 24The article defines the family members of a deceased subscriber entitled to the pension and the conditions for each, the percentage of distribution, and redistribution when someone's entitlement ends.
- Article 25The article provides compensation calculated on the contributions paid, after revaluation, to someone who reached the statutory age or became disabled and is not entitled to a pension, and to the family of a deceased subscriber in specified cases.
- Article 26The article provides that the pension is calculated on the average of the highest wages subject to contribution over 180 months, and allows the Board of Directors to increase pensions with regard to the consumer price index and the actuarial study results.
- Article 27The article provides that a subscriber who no longer holds Saudi nationality is given a lump-sum compensation calculated under sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph (1) of Article 25.
الباب الثالث: فرع الأخطار المهنية والتعويضات الإضافيةArticles 28–42
- Article 28The article applies the occupational hazards and supplementary compensation branch compulsorily to all employees and all workers working inside the Kingdom.
- Article 29The article sets the occupational hazards branch contribution at 2% of the wage subject to contribution, borne by the employer, with a possible temporary doubling for those who violate safety and health instructions.
- Article 30The article defines a work injury to include accidents at work, accidents on the usual route, trips made on the employer's assignment, and occupational diseases listed in a table issued by the Board of Directors.
- Article 31The article sets out the compensation a subscriber with a work injury is entitled to, and requires that the injury occur after registration with the Institution or within the registration deadlines set by the Regulations.
- Article 32The article sets the aim and duration of medical care for someone with a work injury, requires the employer to provide first aid, and provides that treatment is given through the medical entities the Institution designates.
- Article 33The article gives someone temporarily disabled by a work injury a daily allowance equal to 100% of their daily wage, reduced to 75% while treated at the Institution's expense.
- Article 34The article defines occupational disability as total or partial permanent disability resulting from a work injury, and sets the bases for determining its percentage under a table issued by the Board of Directors.
- Article 35The article sets the benefit for total permanent disability at 100% of the average wage, and how partial disability is compensated depending on whether it reaches 50% or falls below it, and on the injured person's age.
- Article 36The article explains how the average wage for the occupational disability benefit is calculated, its temporary nature during five years of periodic exams, a 50% increase for those who need another person's help, and combining it with a wage.
- Article 37The article governs a repeated work injury or its relapse by combining disability percentages and recalculating the benefit or lump-sum compensation, with deduction of what was previously paid.
- Article 38The article gives the family members of a deceased subscriber monthly benefits if the subscriber was receiving a permanent disability benefit, or died from a work injury while in service subject to the Law.
- Article 39The article provides that an injured non-Saudi, or the family in case of death, receives a lump-sum compensation instead of the monthly benefit, equal to 84 or 60 times the benefit depending on the case.
- Article 40The article requires the Institution to pay the costs of preparing and transporting to the home country the body of a subscriber who died from a work injury or was receiving a monthly benefit, and of transporting a disabled injured person who needs help.
- Article 41The article gives a female subscriber maternity compensation for 3 months on childbirth, plus one month for a sick or disabled child, on conditions of contribution period and length of pregnancy.
- Article 42The article sets maternity compensation at 100% of the average wage subject to contribution over the 12 months before birth, due from the first of the month of birth, and not combinable with a wage.
الباب الرابع: فرع التأمين ضد التعطل عن العملArticles 43–49
- Article 43The article makes unemployment insurance compulsory for Saudi workers inside the Kingdom who were under 64 when it began to apply to them, and suspends contributions on reaching pension age.
- Article 44The article sets the unemployment branch contribution at 2% of the wage, split equally between worker and employer, and allows the Council of Ministers to change it between 0.5% and 2%.
- Article 45The article lists ten conditions for entitlement to unemployment compensation, including Saudi nationality and contribution period, and that unemployment is not due to dismissal for the worker's fault or leaving by choice.
- Article 46The article sets the work periods required to qualify for unemployment compensation each time, from 12 months within 36 for the first time to 36 months within 48 for later times.
- Article 47The article sets the maximum period for paying unemployment compensation at 12 months, continuous or not, for each time of entitlement, paid within 24 continuous months from the first payment.
- Article 48The article sets unemployment compensation at 60% of the average wages for the first three months and 50% afterwards, capped at SAR 9,000 and then SAR 7,500 per month.
- Article 49The article sets the cases in which unemployment compensation stops, namely death, reaching pension age with a pension entitlement, or loss of another condition, and how payment resumes.
الباب الخامس: الأحكام المشتركةArticles 50–57
- Article 50The article gives the primary medical committees the power to establish disability and determine the type and duration of the injury, with a right to object before the appeal committees within 30 days of notification.
- Article 51The article allows the Institution to stop daily allowances, benefits and the non-occupational disability pension if the subscriber, without a legitimate excuse, refuses treatment, examinations or medical instructions.
- Article 52The article treats a missing or absent person as deceased for the compensation of their family, and governs what happens if the person is found alive, depending on whether the person was a pension or benefit holder.
- Article 53The article sets a general rule that compensation starts from the first of the month following the month conditions are met, and stops at the end of the month in which the event ending the right occurs.
- Article 54The article sets one year for accepting claims for daily injury allowances and transport and accommodation allowances, and five years for other compensation, unless there is an excuse the Institution accepts.
- Article 55The article requires the Institution to pay full compensation whatever the cause of the risk, except to someone proven to have caused or contributed to the risk intentionally.
- Article 56The article sets the permitted cases of combining compensation for a subscriber and family members, the limits on combining a benefit with a pension, and prohibits all other combinations except as the Regulations provide.
- Article 57The article prevents attachment of cash compensation except by court judgment, at 25% for one creditor and 50% for several creditors, with alimony first, and gives the Institution a privilege in collecting its dues.
الباب السادس: الأحكام الختاميةArticles 58–63
- Article 58The article regulates inspection of the application of the Law, requires employers to give inspectors information and records, imposes confidentiality with exceptions, and allows a reward for those who help uncover violations.
- Article 59The article sets the fine for violating the Social Insurance Law at up to SAR 50,000, doubling on repetition and multiplying by the number of subscribers, with special penalties for fictitious registration and wrongful payments.
- Article 60The article creates one or more committees of three members, by decision of the Board of Directors, to review violations of the Law and impose penalties, and allows an appeal to the competent court.
- Article 61The article allows a penalty decision to include publication of its summary at the violator's expense in a local newspaper or other suitable medium, once the decision or judgment becomes final.
- Article 62The article gives the Board of Directors the power to issue the Regulations of the Social Insurance Law, requires them to be published in the Official Gazette, and makes them effective from the date the Law takes effect.
- Article 63The article requires the Social Insurance Law to be published in the Official Gazette and sets its effective date as the day after the date of its issuance.
A question about the Saudi Social Insurance Law?
Describe what happened and specialist lawyers answer. You can write in English.
- Completely free
- Lawyers from the directory answer
- Your name stays hidden
Need a lawyer who knows the Saudi Social Insurance Law?
Describe your situation briefly and we'll suggest a lawyer who specialises in this law, free and with no commitment.