General Organization for Social Insurance

The General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI) is responsible for providing social protection and insurance coverage in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It covers civil and military government employees, those working in the private sector, and wage-based workers in the government sector. It is an entity with its own legal personality and enjoys financial and administrative independence. Administratively, it is affiliated with the Minister of Finance, who heads its Board of Directors. This board is the supreme authority in managing its affairs. Its headquarters is located in the capital, Riyadh.

GOSI was established on November 15, 1969, and its law was implemented in February 1973. On March 3, 2003, the Council of Ministers issued a decision approving the transfer of the retirement pensions department to the Public Pension Agency (PPA). Then, on June 15, 2021, the Council of Ministers issued a decision to merge the PPA into GOSI. Under this decision, GOSI assumed the responsibilities, authorities, rights, obligations, and assets in all kinds of the PPA, in order to unify efforts to achieve an appropriate environment and necessary means for the optimal implementation of insurance and retirement laws. This consolidation aimed to improve the management of the organization and develop its resources in line with its nature and current and future obligations, with the benefits reflecting on its clients.

GOSI is responsible for implementing the Social Insurance Law, its branches, executive regulations, and both the civil and military pension laws in the Kingdom in accordance with the provisions of laws and regulations issued in this regard.

The retirement and social insurance laws are responsible for managing retirement affairs for civilian and military government employees, as well as providing care for workers in the private sector and those working under wage contracts in the public sector. These laws aim to ensure a decent life for them and their families after leaving work due to retirement, disability, or death. Additionally, the law provides healthcare and necessary compensation for work-related injuries or occupational disabilities through the Occupational Hazards branch, which is mandatory for all workers in the labor market. The law also provides care through the payment of Unemployment Compensation (Saned), along with training and job search support, for Saudi workers who left their jobs due to circumstances beyond their control.

The insurance laws within the GOSI include the following:

- The Social Insurance Law regulates insurance rights, obligations, and compensations, including the Pension Branch and Occupational Hazards Branch.

- The Civil Retirement Law is designed to provide financial support to retired Saudi civilian employees who were appointed to positions within the general state budget or the budgets of public entities. These benefits continue to be paid even after the retiree's passing.

- The Military Retirement Law regulates the retirement rights and obligations of all Saudi military personnel. It ensures a financial resource for them upon the completion of their service due to retirement, disability, or other circumstances. Benefits continue to be paid to eligible beneficiaries in the event of the retiree's passing.

- The Benefit Exchange Law between the civil and military retirement laws and the Social Insurance Law defines the conditions required when a subscriber subject to either the civil or military retirement laws wishes to merge their services with the Social Insurance Law. This allows for the continued insurance coverage of the subscriber according to the provisions of the law.

- The Unemployment Insurance Law (Saned) guarantees insurance protection for Saudi subscribers when they are unemployed, provided that the conditions stipulated in the law or regulations are met.

- The Unified Law for Extending Insurance Protection Cover to Gulf Cooperation Council nationals working in countries other than their own in any member state of the GCC.

GOSI provides services to a significant number of beneficiaries. It serves over one million retirees, more than 11.5 million subscribers, over nine hundred thousand establishments, in addition to more than 830,000 family members.

GOSI offers a range of developed programs and initiatives to contribute to the full benefit of its clients. The most prominent ones are: Taqdeer Program, which is designed for retirees and beneficiaries from both of the public and the private sectors., it involves partnerships with several successful partners to provide them with a variety of services; Masakin Program, it is a financing program that benefits qualified employees from both the public and private sectors, as well as all retirees, the program is designed to increase citizens' homeownership rates by securing many benefits; Elite Program that focuses on training and empowering promising talents who have recently graduated, it accelerates the development of their skills and competencies through various intensive training programs and methods; Aitzaz Program, which aims to raise the awareness in society about the importance of the Ministry of Defense personnel and their sacrifices, it provides exceptional products and services to them and their families, whether they are active-duty personnel, retirees, or the families of martyrs, which is achieved through partnerships with both of the public and the private sectors; and Nishan Service for Military Government Entities that automates the procedures for settling retirement pensions for military retirees through government integration channels.

GOSI has received several awards, notably the Smart Government Shield for remote government work, presented by the Excellence Awards Academy in the Arab region, the Best Government Communication Center in the Middle East, and third place in digital transformation measurement among government entities. It has also received the ISO 30405 certificate for employment standards and the ISO 22301 certificate for the first standard for business continuity.

Additionally, GOSI has been recognized with several certificates of appreciation from the International Social Security Association (ISSA) for its outstanding achievements in various fields, including building and operating compliance management, developing and implementing a business continuity plan, establishing and activating risk management roles, transitioning to electronic branches, technological transformation, implementing data governance, enhancing the quality of retirement requests, Methaq Platform, and Taqdeer Platform.