Doha, February 26 (QNA) - Director of the Retirement Department at the General Retirement and Social Insurance Authority(GRSIA), Khalifa Issa Al Khulaifi on Sunday hailed efforts to implement all articles of the Social Insurance Law which took effect Jan. 3, 2023, highlighting increases in the retirement pensions and widow's shares to 100 percent and the inclusion of the housing allowance in the salary of the subscription account.
Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA), Al Khulaifi said that there are other articles whose implementation is related to the issuance of the executive regulations of the law, which will be issued soon, as they are represented by new articles that did not exist in the previous law, including granting retirement loans, lump-sum compensation, and disbursement of the end of service entitlements for the employment periods that exceed 30 years, in addition to that the regulations will specify, when issued, the amount of these payments, the terms of their entitlement, and the controls for their disbursement.
He highlighted the authority's coordination with all employers by issuing several circulars for both government or private sector agencies. These circulars covered the housing allowance, the need to update the data of the insured from both sectors, updating the data of existing employers and registering newly established employers in accordance with the provisions of this law.
These circulars resulted in the registration of 25 new companies and establishments, after applying the law, bringing the total number of payment entities subject to the law to 425 entities from the government and private sectors, Al Khulaifi said.
He added that the Social Insurance Law approved a number of amendments in the shares of those who are entitled, which resulted in an increase in the shares due, for the widow whose share in her deceased husbands pension was 75 percent if she was the only beneficiary to 100 percent. The number of beneficiaries of this increase reached 836 widows.
He added that a total of 493 widows with one child had their pensions increased from 75 percent to 100 percent. The parents who received 50 percent of the pension under the previous law, if they are the only beneficiaries, will now receive 75 percent.
Mothers with a brother or sister used to receive 33 percent for the mother and 25 percent for the brother or sister, and under the new law, mothers' shares will increase to 50 percent, and those of a brother or sister increase to 33 percent. The number of beneficiaries reached 93 cases, Al Khulaifi added.
He pointed out that for a woman, her pension is settled upon termination of her service by resignation for a reason related to caring for one or more children with disabilities, on the basis of a contribution period of 25 years, and the reduction of the pension stipulated in Article 36 of this law does not apply to her, and that provided that the actual service period is not less than 20 years. The states public treasury bears the value of the actuarial cost resulting from the application of this article, and the regulations specify the controls for applying this benefit.
If the pensioner is appointed in one of the government sector entities subject to the provisions of this law, the payment of his pension will stop during his new work period, and the contribution for this period will be mandatory, and if his salary from his new job is less than his pension, the difference will be paid to him from the fund, he said. When his new service ends, his pension is calculated on the basis of (basic salary, social allowance, and housing allowance), so that the new pension is added to the old pension whose disbursement was suspended, i.e. he gets the sum of the two pensions, but on the condition that he spends a new service period of no less than 8 years. If the new active service period is less than this period, his suspended pension will be paid to him only, and he is entitled to one-time compensation for that new period. If his new service ends due to disability or death, his pension will be calculated on the basis of actual service only.
He stressed that if the pensioner returned to work in the private sector, they has the choice to continue to get the pension or stop it. This law may not include the period preceding the submission of the application.
In the event that he chooses to submit to the provisions of this law, he shall be treated as the previous case, and in all cases, the subscription shall be from the date of submitting the application to submit to the provisions of this law, and he may not include the period prior to submitting the application.
If the pensioner from the private sector is re-appointed in the same entity in which he was working before the termination of his service, the pension shall be disbursed to him during the period of his work, and the contribution for the period of his new service shall be mandatory, and if his salary is less than his pension, the difference shall be paid to him by the Authority, and it shall be settled pension in the same manner.
The director of the retirement department stated that if the service of the pensioner returning to work ends due to death or disability, the employer shall pay the contributions due for the housing allowance for the period completing a period of eight years, and the housing allowance is calculated within the salary of the pension calculation.
He pointed out that in the event of termination of the service of the pensioner returning to work other than in cases of death or disability, he shall bear the payment of the contributions due for the housing allowance for the period referred to in the previous paragraph of this article, or he shall be refunded only his contributions that he paid to the Fund for that allowance if he does not wish to pay this allowance. His pension shall be settled after excluding the housing allowance from the pension calculation salary.
He added that in order to benefit from the early retirement pension, the age must not be less than 50 years, and the period of contribution is 25 years, including an actual service period of no less than 20 years, and the conditions for early retirement entitlement will be determined according to the schedule issued by a cabinet decision.
Al Khulaifi stressed the need to update the data continuously through the GRSIA application, the electronic services portal for citizens and the employer portal, and to review and ensure its validity before retiring.
He thanked the employers for their initiatives, wishing for more cooperation with the GRSIA to serve the Authority and the insured and to achieve the public interest and improve performance and work methodology. (QNA)