Articles

Over 300 UAE-based entities that employ GCC nationals and 100 GCC citizens employed in the UAE who are subject to the extension protection system, in addition to members of the technical committee from participating countries, attended the final day for the 57th meeting of the permanent technical committee for civil retirement and social security authorities in the GCC region.
 
The meeting shed light on latest developments in implementing the protection extension system, new pension laws recently enforced in the GCC region, and the expected obligations required from both employers and insured individuals in light of those changes.
 
Additionally, officials from across the different pension authorities in the GCC region were given the ability to network and learn more about the GCC's Supreme Council's latest and approved changes regarding the extension protection system, in alignment with the 21st session held in Bahrain back in December 2004.
 
Participating members reviewed updates regarding the application of the system and the obligations assigned to each competent authority, whether from an employer's perspective or from the concerned pension authority, with a quest to figure out ways to ensure the system is enhanced further, all in par with the approved systems, regulations, conditions and controls in place, while ensuring a smooth contribution process for all those concerned.
 
Some of the audience's questions focused on the system's registration mechanism and an authority's competency in receiving registration requests, in addition to qualifying conditions to participate in the system; the changes that occurred in the pension laws for the different GCC countries, and its implications on contribution rates, benefits, gratuity and the services contained as part of those laws, such as merging employment services and purchasing employment years.
 
The mechanism for paying due contributions and the documents that prove employers have paid the contributions, and the definition of the funds deposited with the aim of proving the payment process, were also amongst the topics highlighted, keeping in mind the fact that contribution payments vary from one country to another depending on the country's law in which the insured employee is based.
 
It is an employer's responsibility to make sure their GCC employees, who are working in a country other than their own, are subject to the insurance protection extension system, given that they meet its required criteria.
 
Members of the committee called on GCC entities and employees to correspond with their related authority via available communication tools, such as websites or directly, and to attend introductory meetings that provide ideal opportunities for employers and employees to receive face-to-face knowledge regarding the protection extension system, emphasizing the fact that upcoming meetings will be held successively during May at Qatar, and in September at Bahrain.