Qatar has enacted one of the world’s most generous retirement and pension laws, raising the minimum pension to QR15,000 in addition to a housing allowance of QR4,000 for all retired citizens. The new laws on military retirement and social insurance, issued by Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, embody the vision of Qatar’s leadership for wellbeing of Qatari people. The State’s pension and social insurance schemes have been reformed through the new laws.
While the new laws will be fully implemented in six months, the General Retirement and Social Insurance Authority has said that people retiring during the transition period due to reaching the retirement age, disability or death will also benefit from the provisions of the new laws.
The new laws will make it easier for citizens to get their insurance rights. To facilitate all the people and ensure that no one is left out, people whose service has ended without meeting the condition of contribution period required for entitlement to pension can purchase a nominal service period. Those not entitled to pension will get a one-time compensation, not exceeding double the amount of contributions the insured paid to the fund.
In order to motivate citizens to stay in the country’s workforce for longer, bonuses hall be awarded to pensioners who reach retirement age with a contribution period in excess of 30 years.
The law also allow a person retiring from the government service and taking a job in the private sector to combine the pension with their current salary from the job in private sector. The two laws also grant several benefits to working women. A woman who resigns to care for her special needs children may keep her pension with no deduction, provided she has an active service period of 20 years. In case of death of the insured or pensioner, the right to pension payments will be transferred to their beneficiaries, who include: Non-Qatari children of Qatari pensioners, non-Qatari widows, non-Qatari parents, and non-Qatari siblings.
The provisions of the Social Insurance Law shall apply to all citizens in the public and private sector, and the average pension of insured private sector employees will be calculated based on the average salary of the last three years of employment, instead of last five.
The new laws will usher in a new era of social, economic and human development, in line with Qatar National Vision 2030 and the National Development Strategy 2018-2022.
