Saudi gov’t to pay 60 pct of wages for citizens in private sector

   RIYADH, April 3 -- Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ordered on Friday the government to cover 60 percent of salaries of Saudi employees in the private sectors for a period of three months.
   The king granted a budget of 9 billion Saudi Riyals (2.4 billion U.S. dollars) for the program to mitigate the effects of coronavirus in the private sectors as some workers may lose jobs because of this crisis, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
   The employers have the right, instead of terminating the contract of a Saudi worker, to apply for compensation to the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI) for the workers, at 60 percent of the registered wage in (GOSI) for a duration of three months, at a maximum of 9,000 Saudi Riyals monthly per employee.
   Minister of Finance and Chairman of GOSI, Mohammed Al-Jadaan, confirmed that the order comes to limit the economic impact on the labor market.
   The compensation covers 100 percent of Saudi employees working in facilities that have five workers or less. It also covers up to 70 percent of companies where the number of Saudi workers exceeds five, he said, adding that the order will benefit 1.2 million Saudi workers.
   The submission of the compensation request shall start in April 2020, while payment to workers will be made at the beginning of May 2020. This is applicable for all Saudi workers in all private sectors establishments that were unable to pay for the Saudi workers due to COVID-19 crisis, he highlighted.
   The private sector firms must resume the payment of wages, right after the compensation ceases. They, also, shall continue paying wages for Saudi and non-Saudi workers, who were not included in this compensation.
   The government has approved, in March 20, quick initiatives to support the private sector, especially small and medium-sized enterprises and firms that have been greatly impacted by COVID-19.  Xinhua