GOSI, Saudi Arabia's social insurance: the branches, the two tiers and the pay that counts

Know which tier a Saudi national is on, and how the new tier's rate rises

A Saudi national's tier is set by when they first joined, not when they joined you. Anyone with contributions before 3 July 2024, in the private sector or the civil service, stays on the earlier law with every employer after. Anyone who first joined from that date is on the law in force since then, the new tier.

The new tier's pension branch started at 9% on each side, the earlier tier's rate. It rises by 0.5% on each side every July, until it reaches the rate the law sets.

The earlier tier's pension branch stays at 9% on each side. No rise for it had been scheduled by October 2026.

Occupational hazards and unemployment insurance are the same on both tiers. The gap between two Saudi nationals on the same pay is the pension branch alone.

Work contributions out on the pay the law counts

Contributions are worked out on basic pay plus housing. Other parts of pay are left out.

The pay counted stops at SAR 45,000 a month. Under the law in force since 3 July 2024, it is never less than the minimum wage the competent authority sets.

The regulation in force since that date adds three rules. Contributions are worked out before anything is deducted from pay, such as a loan repayment or a fine. They continue through leave the employment rules provide for, and through unpaid absence you have approved. In the month someone joins or leaves, they are worked out on the days served.

The same wage decides whether a Saudi national counts towards your Saudization share. The payroll guide for Saudi Arabia sets out the thresholds.

Register on time, and report every change to pay

You register each new employee with GOSI by the last day of the month they join. For an expatriate brought in from abroad, their first day is the day they enter the Kingdom. For one transferred to you from another employer, it is the day of the transfer.

You report a leaver by the last day of the month they leave. Any change to an employee's details is reported by the last day of the month it happens. A raise is such a change, and so is a new housing allowance.

Under the regulation in force since 3 July 2024, a missed deadline has lasting effects.

Pay by the 15th, before a fine or a gap opens

A month's contributions are due by the 15th of the next month, both shares together. You alone answer to GOSI for both. You may deduct the employee's share each time you pay their wage.

Paid late, contributions carry a fine of 2% of the amount due for each month late, or part of a month. Take a month's contributions of SAR 20,000, paid a month and five days after the due date. Part of a month counts as a whole one, so that is two months late. The fine is SAR 800.

For a Saudi national on the new tier, months stop counting towards their pension once six months' contributions are left unpaid. GOSI still claims those contributions from you. It can have your assets attached to recover what is owed.

Arrears close other doors too. Government bodies ask for GOSI's certificate before you bid for public work, change your commercial registration or recruit from abroad. GOSI issues it only once every obligation is met.

Keep a Saudi national's record whole when they change employer

A Saudi national's tier follows them from job to job. Someone on the earlier tier stays on it with you. Ask for the date they first joined GOSI when you hire them, not only the date they start with you.

The employer they leave reports the leaving by the last day of that month. You register them by the last day of the month they join you. Under the regulation in force since 3 July 2024, each employer pays for the days served with it in the month of the move.

The same regulation covers someone who works for two employers in the same month. Each employer pays on the wage it pays. The cap applies to the two wages together, and each employer's counted wage is cut in proportion.

GOSI counts one contribution month for each calendar month, however many employers paid for it.

Hold each Saudi national's start date and wage in one record

A GOSI month draws on facts held in different places: the date each Saudi first joined, the housing in each contract, a raise agreed in the middle of the month, a transfer from another employer. A payroll fed from several places struggles to keep them in step, and a late correction is not always allowed.

On our payroll, each comes from one record, on an engine we build and maintain for Saudi law. We hold each employee's GOSI start date, so every run uses the right rates. Each scheduled rise is in our engine before the run it affects. You are told what changed and what it does to your figures.

We produce the GOSI schedule each month. Your entity submits it and pays the contributions, as it does today.