Salary Incentives Announced in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia –The Government Announced Salary Incentives for Saudi National Employees
The government of Saudi Arabia has announced financial support measures to private sector employers with Saudi national staff. The support program introduced by the Ministry of Human Resource and Social Developments provides private sectors companies financial support to cover 60% of Saudi national employees’ salaries during the period of May-July 2020, subject to the following conditions and limitations:

• Eligible employees must have been registered with the General Organization of Social Insurance (GOSI) before 1 January 2020.
• The incentive covers the salaries of all Saudi national employees for employers with 5 or less Saudi employees and 70% of Saudi employees for employers with more than 5 employees.
• The incentive amount is limited to 60% of the eligible employees’ salaries registered with the GOSI, subject to a per employee monthly salary cap of SAR 9,000.
• Employers are not responsible for the remaining balance of the employee’ salaries covered by this incentive plan, provided that the employees are not required to work during the incentive coverage period; i.e. May-July 2020.
• Employers must have no overdue GOSI contribution liabilities to be eligible for this support program.

In addition, the government of Saudi Arabia is renewing the residency permits of expatriate employees, whose residency permits are due for renewal between 21 March and 30 June 2020, without any renewal fees by three months.