Saudi Arabia: Nitaqat Clarification Issued
Saudi Gazette, 7 March 2022: Saudi Arabia’s General Organisation for Social Insurance has issued a Nitaqat clarification.
They have introduced a new mechanism which means Saudi employees will only be included in the firm’s Saudisation programme with their knowledge express consent.
The express consent will be evidenced by a signature on an electronic contract.
The aim is to avoid their names being exploited.
Under the mechanism, when a company or establishment wants to hire a Saudi citizen, the Saudi national must accept the contract sent to them by the firm within seven days.
If they are not, they will not be counted in the Nitaqat programme and the contract will be rejected automatically.
Previously, the Organisation allowed Saudi employees to be calculated in the Nitaqat programme without their approval of the contract.
Where a Saudi employee agrees to the electronic contract, they will receive a message stating they are registered in the social insurance system.
The employee’s wage and insurance subscription number will be mentioned in the message. At the same time, the employer will receive a message stating the employee’s registration has been approved.
In terms of non-Saudi employees, their data will be sent from the Human Resources and Social Development Ministry to the Organisation after their sponsorship is transferred or they enter the Kingdom.
A message will then be sent to the employer from the Organisation stating they have a non-Saudi subscriber who needs to update their information.
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