Saturday, November 4, 2023
Retirement Age in Saudi Arabia is still based on Islamic Lunar Calendar
Social insurance officials in Saudi Arabia said that the Islamic lunar calendar is still used to figure out retirement age, even though the Kingdom government decided to use the Gregorian calendar for all official business. Trending : New law in Saudi Arabia to protect elderly people from mistreating in the family
The Saudi General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI) in response to an inquiry said that it still uses the Islamic Hijri calendar to figure out when employees can retire, even though there might be a new way to do this now that the government has made its choice.
- "If there are any changes, it will be made public through the organizations official channels," the GOSI said.
- In the Hijri calendar, the first day of a new month is marked by seeing the crescent. The Hijri year is about 11 days shorter than the Gregorian year.
- Earlier this week, the Saudi Council of Ministers agreed that all government business would use the Gregorian calendar to figure out time. This comes as Saudi Arabia becomes more open to the rest of the world. Most Viewed : Benefits for working in night shift as an employee
- A meeting of the Cabinet, led by Saudi Crown and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, gave the go-ahead.
- The decree says that all official actions and processes will use the Gregorian calendar to figure out how long something takes.
- Some exceptions are made to the rules about time in Islamic Sharia when the calculations are done using the Hijri calendar or when it is clearly written that the calculations should be done using the Hijri calendar. Read : Employing domestic workers from their own country is prohibited for expats
- The government and private organizations in Saudi Arabia were banned to use the Gregorian calendar for public business in the year 2012. All government departments and offices had to follow the Hijri dates and speak Arabic at the time.
- In any case, they could use the Gregorian calendar if they had to, as long as it was linked to the right Hijri date.
- Saudi Arabia's economy and society have changed a lot in the last few years. Saudi Arabia became a home to a large community of expatriates. See Also : King Salman donates 30 million and Prince Mohammed bin Salman donates 20 million to a fundraising campaign Sahem for Palestinians Relief
What Saudi Labor Law states on Retirement Age :
- According to the Article 74 (4) of Saudi Labor Law, the employee reaches the retirement age, which is 55 years for women and 60 years for men, unless an agreement is reached between the parties to continue working beyond this age. Early retirement may be eligible for a reduction in the retirement age, as stipulated in the work organization regulation. A fixed-term employment agreement that continues past the retirement age shall be deemed terminated at the conclusion of its designated period.
- In August 2019, The GOSI announced an amendment to Article 38 of the social insurance system and sets 60 as the retirement age of both men and women, earlier it was 55 years for women. Join Saudi Expatriates on Telegram
