The new law provides necessary protection for those insured in the event they face disability, injury, ageing, natural death or accident
A new social insurance law that broadens the insurance coverage to cover all citizens employed in the private sector went into effect on Tuesday, a top official said, Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.
The law also adds the housing allowance to the salary of contributions account to include basic salary, social allowance, housing allowance, and allow the civilian pensioners to combine the pension and the job salary in case that they join the private sector, QNA said, in an interview with Customer Management at the General Retirement and Social Insurance Authority (GRSIA) Ali Al-Kuwari.
The most prominent advantages provided by the new Social Insurance Law are the exclusion of the age requirement for the insured women, reduction of the pension if the resignation is due to caring for one or more children (kens) with disabilities, and the calculation of the pension of the insured citizens in the private sector on an average salary for the last three years instead of five years under the current law,” QNA reported.
Al Kuwari noted a minimum pension of no less than QR 15,000 will be set for death, disability, and reaching the age of retirement.
For women, the law stipulates no age requirements and “reduced pension in case of resignation to care for one or more children with disabilities, plus an increase to the widow’s share to 100 per cent of the pension in the absence of other beneficiaries, and benefit from the pension without reduction in retirement at the age of 55,” QNA said.
Citing the official, QNA said “the GRSIA grants the extra period bonus to those whose actual service period exceeds 30 years in the event of termination of service due to disability, death, or reaching the age of 60, calculating the extra years as of the law’s enforcement date.”
Meanwhile, the categories for insurance will be expanded to include a wider range of citizens, including Qatari employees working in GCC countries companies and entities.
As of Tuesday, the housing allowance will be added to the salary of contributions account to become the basic salary plus the social allowance and the housing allowance. The value of the housing allowance, whether in the government or private sector, should not exceed QR 6000, as per the new law.
The law also enables employers to update or register their employer data and employees’ information.
Al Kuwari warned the employer is obligated to pay an additional amount if they fail to register or subscribe for all or some of its employees or workers. This is designed to push all employers to commit to supplying data and paying the subscriptions of their employees to ensure rights are upheld.
