Compensation for Work Related Injury Resulting in Death or Disability

As with many other places where construction, manufacturing or other industries, accidents can happen. In Saudi Arabia, Article 133 of Saudi Labor Law stipulates that employer bears full responsibility on expenses related on treatment and rehabilitation of workers injured while on duty.

This responsibility includes hospitalization, medical examination, X-ray and radiology tests, devices and equipment, and even transportation costs going to hospital and medical facilities.

Definition of Work Injury
Before talking about benefits and compensations, it is important to define first what is the definition of work injury. Work injury in this context refers to injuries sustained by employees while performing tasks at designated work places.

Compensation During Treatment of Work Injury
As stated in Article 137 of Saudi Labor Law employer of an injured employee is bound to pay the salary of an injured employee:

“In the event of temporary disability arising from a job injury, the injured
party shall have the right to financial aid equal to his full pay for thirty
days, then 75% of the wage for the entire duration of his treatment.
If one year elapses or if it has been medically determined that his
prognosis is poor or that he is not physically fit to work, the injury shall
be classified as total disability, the contract terminated and the workman
compensated for the injury. The employer shall not have the right to
recover the payments made for the treatment of the injury during that
year.”

• Employee sidelined with injury will be compensated with full salary in the first 30 days of treatment, just the same as when this employee gets sick other that the defined work injury.
• After the 30 days full compensation to the employee, employer is obligated to pay 75% of salary in the next 11 months of treatment.
• One year after the start of treatment, employer can opt to terminate employment of injured worker if the chances of recovery is slim. Such case can be treated as permanent injury.

Compensation in Case of Injury Resulting to Death or Disability
If the employee dies, rendered partial or permanent injury caused by work injury, there are two ways to avail of benefits. First is the benefit provided by the employer, and the second is the benefit provided by Saudi Arabia’s General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI) to employee or legitimate beneficiaries.

1. In case of death or total disability, employee or his/her legal heirs are entitled to compensation equivalent to 36 months, capped at SAR54,000 as stipulated by Articl 138 of the Saudi Labor Law.
2. In case of partial disability, employee will be entitled to compensation proportional to the extent of injury.

“If the injury results in permanent partial disability, the injured party shall
be entitled to a compensation equivalent to the estimated rate of that
disability in accordance with the approved disability rate guide schedule
multiplied by the value of the total permanent disability compensation.”

No Compensation for Employees in the Following Conditions
No benefit shall be granted to employee under any of the following conditions stated in Article 139.

1. If the workman deliberately injures himself.
2. If the injury is caused by intentional misbehavior on the part of the workman.
3. If the workman declines to present himself to a physician or declines to accept the treatment by the physician designated by the employer without a valid reason.