Work Injury Compensation in Saudi Arabia: GOSI and the Employer

A maintenance technician falls from a ladder while installing an air-conditioning unit at a client's site. He breaks his arm and cannot work for two months. The employer says GOSI is responsible, and the worker does not know how much he will be paid or for how long.

The direct answer: most workers in Saudi Arabia are covered by the occupational hazards branch of the Social Insurance Law, administered by the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI). GOSI pays for treatment and a daily allowance of 100% of the contribution wage for days of incapacity, and then compensation for permanent disability if there is any. The employer pays treatment and compensation directly only if the business is outside this branch (Article 132 of the Labor Law).

Who pays for a work injury in Saudi Arabia: GOSI or the employer?

Article 28 of the new Social Insurance Law states that the occupational hazards branch applies compulsorily to all employees and workers working inside the Kingdom. So you are most likely covered, whether you are Saudi or not, and GOSI pays for treatment, allowances and compensation. But Article 31 requires the injury to happen after you were registered with GOSI, or within the registration period set by the regulations. An unregistered worker's rights are affected.

The work injuries chapter of the Labor Law states in Article 132 that its rules do not apply to businesses covered by the occupational hazards branch. So it remains for cases this branch does not cover. A common mistake is for an injured worker to combine compensation under the Labor Law with GOSI allowances, as if both laws governed the same injury.

With the new law, the previous law's rules were kept for certain groups of existing contributors by Council of Ministers Resolution No. 1022 dated 26/12/1445H. So do not compare your amount with a colleague's. Ask GOSI to explain the basis of the calculation in your case.

What counts as a work injury?

Article 30 of the Social Insurance Law defines a work injury as any accident that happens to the contributor during or because of work. Subject to its conditions, it includes:

• An accident inside or outside the workplace, as long as it happens during or because of work.
• An accident on the usual route between home and work, going or returning, or between work and the place where you usually eat or pray.
• An accident while travelling to carry out a task assigned by the employer.
• Occupational diseases listed in the approved schedule.

An accident outside the company's door can still be a work injury. On the other hand, not every injury on a working day is a work injury. For example, leaving the usual route for a personal purpose may change the description, so the details matter.

What should you do first after the accident?

• Treatment first: call an ambulance or go to the nearest medical facility.
• Inform your employer immediately, preferably in a written message showing the date and time.
• Make sure the company registered the injury with GOSI, and follow the report from your own account.
• Keep the first medical report. It is the most important document linking the injury to the accident.
• Write down the names of witnesses, the place and time of the accident, and any instruction proving you were on a work task.
• If the company writes a report, read it carefully and do not sign a description that does not match what happened.

Article 33 links the daily allowance to an injury reported within the methods and deadlines set by the regulations, so a late report may complicate your right. Report it from the first day, and do not wait until treatment is finished.

How much does GOSI pay for a work injury?

Article 31 sets the benefits of the occupational hazards branch: the medical care your condition requires, daily allowances for temporary disability, and monthly pensions or lump-sum compensation for permanent disability.

The daily allowance is due from the day after the injury for each day of incapacity, including holidays, and ends when you recover, return to work, or permanent disability is established. A non-Saudi entitled to a monthly pension receives a lump sum instead (Article 39): 84 times the pension in total disability or death, and 60 times in partial disability.

The whole calculation is based on the contribution wage registered with GOSI, not on the salary you receive. If your registered wage is lower than your real wage, the allowance and compensation are reduced. This is one of the problems injured workers most often discover too late.

A worker's registered wage with GOSI is SAR 6,000 a month, that is SAR 200 a day. He is unable to work for 45 days after his injury.

Daily allowance: 45 × 200 = SAR 9,000. It falls to 75% (SAR 150) for days when he is treated at GOSI's expense in a hospital or medical centre.

If his real wage was SAR 8,000 but he was registered at SAR 6,000, he loses about a quarter of the allowance.

How is the disability percentage set, and can you object?

The disability percentage is set by the primary medical committees, based on the nature of the impairment, your general condition and your age. If you disagree with the decision, Article 50 gives you the right to object to the appeal medical committees within thirty days of being notified of the decision. Do not miss this period, because the disability percentage decides whether you receive a lump sum or a monthly pension.

What if you are not covered by the occupational hazards branch?

Then the Labor Law applies. Article 133 requires the employer to treat you and pay all necessary costs. Article 137 gives you financial assistance equal to your full wage for sixty days, then 75% of your wage for the rest of the treatment period. If treatment lasts a year, or the doctors decide recovery is unlikely, the injury is treated as total disability.

Article 138 sets compensation for total permanent disability or death at three years' wages, with a minimum of SAR 54,000. Partial disability is assessed by its percentage in the approved disability schedule. Article 139 denies compensation in specific cases: if the worker injured himself on purpose, if the injury resulted from his intentional misconduct, or if he refused without a valid reason to see the doctor or accept the treatment provided by the employer. The employer must prove these cases, and not every passing mistake by a worker is intentional misconduct.

What if another party caused the accident?

If a driver hits you on your usual route to work, for example, you may have a separate right to claim compensation for the harm from him or his insurance company, in addition to your GOSI entitlement. A claim for compensation for a harmful act is not heard after three years from when you knew of the harm and who was responsible, and in any case not after ten years from when it happened (Article 143 of the Civil Transactions Law). So do not postpone it until your GOSI file is finished.

This is general information based on the official Arabic texts of Saudi laws, which prevail over any translation. It is not legal advice for your specific case.

Practical solutions for the worker and the employer

If you are the injured worker:

• Check your GOSI registration and your registered wage, and ask for it to be corrected if it is lower than your real wage.
• Follow the injury report yourself from your account. Do not rely only on the company's promise.
• Keep copies of all medical reports, committee decisions and the dates you were notified.
• If you think the disability percentage is wrong, object to the appeal committee within thirty days of notification.
• If you are not covered by the branch, ask your employer in writing for treatment and assistance, then file a labour complaint if refused.

If you are the employer:

• Provide the necessary first aid and register the injury with GOSI immediately, within the set deadlines.
• Write an accurate report of the accident and its witnesses, without changes or exaggeration.
• Register all workers at their real wages. Registering a lower wage harms the worker and comes back on you.
• If you will argue that the worker acted on purpose or with intentional misconduct, keep evidence of that and of the safety instructions given.
• Review the causes of the accident and fix them. Repeated injuries reveal a safety problem.

Every injury has its own details, from registration to the medical report. Send us the medical report and the committee's decision, if issued, on WhatsApp, and we will explain the next step.