MINISTERIAL ORDER NO. 14/insurance dated 24.4.1978 with respect to procedures, appointments, mode of application for payment of allowances, indemnities, pensions, grants, the determination of offices for such payments, payment forms and dates of submission thereof.

The Minister for Labour and Social Affairs, After referring to the Social Insurance Law issued as per Amiri Decree Law No. 24/1976; And after the approval of the Board of Directors of the General Organisation for Social Insurance, Hereby orders :

Chapter 1 Determination of the Periods of the Age in the Social Insurance Law and Persons Eligible to Pensions and Insurance Indemnities

Article 1

The determination of dates, periods, months and years prescribed according to the said Social Insurance Law and the Regulations and Ministerial Orders issued for the implementation thereof and also the determination of the age of the beneficiaries and those deserving these rights benefiting from the provisions of the said Law, shall construed according to the Gregorian calendar in all cases.

Determination of age shall be in accordance with the birth certificate or an Official copy thereof or any other document approved by the General Organisation for Social Insurance in the event of the inability to submit such documents. The said determination shall also be based on a decision made by a competent medical commission or on the decision of a medical committee in its appellate capacity set up by an Order of the Minister of Health.

Both the General Organisation for Social Insurance and the insured may challenge the decision of the competent medical committee concerning the age before the Medical Committee in its appellate capacity within 30 days of the communication of the decision thereof.

In the event of the absence of such a challenge, the decision of the competent medical commission and the decision of the medical committee in its appellate capacity shall be final concerning the determination of the age even if any birth certificate or any other official document relating thereto were to avail thereafter.

Article 2

In the absence of the determination of the date of birth in terms of day and month, the date of birth shall be deemed to be the 1st day of the first month of the succeeding year of the determined year of birth according to the Gregorian calendar.

Article 3

In the application of the provisions of this Order, the eligible persons mentioned in chapter 6 of the Social Insurance Law shall mean as follows :

"Widow of the deceased" means his wife at the time of death or one irrevocably divorced at the time of death.

"Male and female Orphans" means sons and daughters of the insured or one entitled to rights of pension and the grandsons of the deceased's son males or females as long as they are dependent on him at the time of death in terms of Articles 78, 79 and 80 of the said Insurance Law.

"Brothers and sisters of the deceased" are like the sons and daughters of the insured or the pensioner regardless of being orphans as long as they were dependent on their insured deceased brother or deceased pensioner brother in terms of the provisions of the above mentioned two Articles 78 and 79 of the said Law.

"Mother" means the mother of the deceased insured or the deceased pensioner in the event of being a widow or divorced at the time of death of her son and had not named any person other than the father of the deceased son.

"The father" in case of being dependent up on his deceased insured or pensioner son.

Article 4

Deserving ones are deemed so when they are dependent on the insured or the pensioner with respect to means of subsistence whether wholly or partly.

Article 5

The distribution of pension shall not however be affected in circumstances when the widow or widows are carrying foetus. But the question of distribution would be resorted to when the foetus has been delivered alive.

Chapter ii Procedures with respect to Application for Payment of Indemnities, Pensions and the required Documentsand Dates of Submission thereof.

Article 6

The General Organisation for Social Insurance shall adopt the necessary procedures with respect to payment of entitled indemnities and pensions within 48 hours of the date of the submission of the written application to the said Organisation accompanied by the documents mentioned in Article 7, by the insured or his representative certified by the Notary Public.

The insured person may submit his written application two months at most before his retirement. An application submitted to the General Organisation for Social Insurance confirming the occupational disability and also the submission of a certificate proving the degree of this occupational disability, shall be deemed as application for the payment of entitled indemnity or pension according to the provisions of the Law.

Article 7

(a) The insured person shall submit to the General Organisation for Social Insurance and application for payment of old age pension or non-occupational disability pension or the lump sum indemnity to which he is entitled according to the provisions of the law on the form to be determined by a decision of the Director of the General Organisation for Social Insurance accompanied by the following documents with respect to each case :-

Birth Certificate or an official copy thereof or any other document in place of it provided to be accepted by the General Organisation for Social Insurance or by a decision issued by the competent Medical Committee or a decision of the Medical Committee in its appellate capacity according to each case.

In case of non-occupational disability, a certificate of the competent Medical Committee or the Medical Committee in its appellate capacity according to each case proving the condition of non-occupational disability mentioned in clause 8 of Article 4 of the Law.

Marriage contract or divorce certificate of the insured woman or death certificate of the husband or a certified copy or a written statement indicating the existence of any of these cases at the time of the application for payment of a lump sum indemnity.

دA statement by the insured indicating that he is not engaged in any work subject to social insurance which would give him an income equalling or exceeding the deserving pension.

The beneficiaries of the insured or of the deceased pensioner in the event of their entitlement to social insurance pensions or indemnity in lump sum or grants, shall forward their applications for payment in the form issued by an order of the Director of the said Organisation accompanied by the following documents as in the case necessitates :-

Application for payment of funeral grant by whomsoever has paid the expenses.

Birth certificate of the insured or the beneficiary unless it has been submitted before.

Death certificate of the insured or the pensioner or any other official document accepted by the General Organisation for Social Insurance determining the date of death.

An official document of the lawful heirs of the beneficiaries of the insured and their ages or an authenticated official certificate indicating therefore.

Marriage contract of the widow or widows of the insured or the pensioner or any certificate accepted by the General Organisation for Social Insurance.

An official certificate from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs or from a recognised institution indicating that the insured or the deceased pensioner substantiating the claim of the applicant's heirs with respect to the payment. The widow or widows are excluded from this provision.

Indication with respect to enrolment of sons, brothers, sons of the deceased's son who reached the age of 22 but not exceeding the age of 26 on a regular basis as students in any stage of education not higher than the University stage or education in higher institutes i.e. the stage at which he obtains his university graduation or its equivalent.

Medical certificate from the competent medical committee or a certificate from any other institution authenticated by the said committee in case of the disability of the son or the son of the deceased's son to earn his living. This certificate should be made every two years unless the committee decides on his inability to recover his health.

In the event of the applicant being the father of the insured, he shall submit a certificate from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs or any other similar certificate authenticated by any competent institution proving that he is dependent on his deceased son.

As for the brothers and sisters who are entitled to a share of the pension of their deceased brother, they shall submit a certificate from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs proving that they are dependent on their deceased brother provided they fulfil the conditions mentioned in Articles 78 and 79 of the said Insurance Law.

Birth certificates of sons and brothers deserving of the pension or any official copy or an equivalent thereof.

The aforementioned documents in the foregoing eleven clauses shall be accompanied by form 3/Insurance/Pensions after completing the particulars therein in accordance with each case.

If members of the family of the insured or those benefiting from the deceased beneficiary were to live abroad, they shall submit the said documents after having been authenticated by institutions accepted by the General Organisation for Social Insurance.

The General Organisation for Social Insurance may be satisfied with a declaration by the beneficiary indicating a resume of said documents, referred to in the foregoing clauses 1, 2, 3 and 4 of paragraph one of this Article confirmed by a certificate of two witnesses authenticated by an official institution or any other documents accepted by the Organisation.

chapter iii: Those Deserving Entitlements and their Mode of Payment

Article 8

The share of pension shall be paid to the deserving adult whereas the share of the minor shall be paid to one of the following persons according to the following category :-

To the mother of the minor if alive.

To the father of the minor with respect to the shares of the brothers and sisters.

The senior adult of the brothers and sisters of the minor.

True grandfather and in his absence the true grandfather-to-mother.

The qualifications of the aforementioned persons shall be established by an order of a competent court.

In the absence of the aforementioned persons in the foregoing paragraph the share of the minor shall be paid to the guardian appointed by the competent court or to the competent institution to be accepted by the General Organisation for Social Insurance.

Any of the beneficiaries may, at any time, regardless of the payment of the pension to any of the persons mentioned in the three foregoing paragraphs, submit an application to the General Organisation for Social Insurance according to an order of the competent court with respect to nominating another guardian to be paid the shares of minors of the pension. In this case, the said General Organisation may stop the payment to the above mentioned persons and begin payment to the new guardian commencing from the entitled pension due for the successive month following its notification by the order of the court.

The share of minor or minors in the lump sum indemnity shall be paid according to the foregoing regulations unless the beneficiaries shall submit to the General Organisation for Social Insurance an order from the competent court, before the payment, nominating another guardian.

Article 9

Without prejudice to the provisions of the foregoing Article, the applicant for payment in case of being a representative or an authorised agent of the insured or the pensioner or the beneficiaries in the event of the death of either of them, shall attach the application with :-

A power of Attorney attested by the Notary Public or authenticated by an administrative institution or by substitution according to custom and usage attested by two witnesses and authenticated by the competent official at the General Organisation for Social Insurance.

An order with respect to being nominated as a custodian or representative on behalf of the absentee in case of the insured or the pensioner or the beneficiary who is subject to the provisions with respect to custody in view of shortage of qualification, or disqualification.

Article 10

The application of the pensioner or the beneficiaries, with respect to payment of pension or indemnity or grants shall include therein the determination of the mode of payments entitled to them whether periodical or in lump sum.

The applicant has the right to alter the mode of payment of the entitlements paid periodically for the successive months after the completion for alteration whenever there are reasonable grounds acceptable to the General Organisation for Social Insurance.

The Director of the General Organisation by virtue of an order therefore shall determine the mode of payment of the entitlements.

chapter iv: Time of Payment and Conditions of Continuity thereof

Article 11

Periodical pensions shall be paid commencing from the following day of the month with respect to entitlement except the first month of the pension entitled thereto; pensions shall be paid only for the remaining days of that month in case they are less than one complete month.

Article 12

The insured or, in case of his death, the beneficiaries or their legal or non legal representative shall submit in the first month of every year an administratively certified declaration to the General Organisation for Social Insurance on the form prepared by the said Organisation for such purpose proving therein the continuity of the conditions of pension entitlement to the person(s) concerned. Payment shall be stopped in case of the default in submitting the said declaration at the appointed time. And it is to be repaid from the date of stoppage once said declaration has been submitted and whenever the conditions of the said entitlements are still fulfilled.

The pensioners in receipt of their pensions personally, are exempted from submitting such declarations.

Article 13

Proof of the existence of non occupational disability should be on the basis of the conditions provided for in clause 8 of Article 4 of the said Social Insurance Law and payment shall be from the date of the decision of the foregoing competent Medical Committee or the Medical Committee in its appellate capacity with respect to proving the disability or from the date of the occurrence of the case that absolutely proves that the disability was a result thereof or from the date determined by any other Medical authority authenticated by the competent Medical Committee or the Medical Committee in its appellate capacity as the case may be.

Article 14

Pensioners of occupational or non occupational disability, shall present themselves before the competent Medical Committee or any other medical authority whose decision shall be approved by the said committee to be medically re-examined in the appointed time notified to them unless the case is settled in terms of the decision of the Committee. In the event of the refusal without any acceptable cause to submit to such medical examination, the General Organisation may stop the payment of the pension until he submits himself to the medical examination, in which event he shall be paid the monies that have been stopped when the medical examination supported his case.

Chapter v Procedures with respect to notifying of Employment Accidents and the Regulations with respect to daily subsistence and expenditure for transporting injured person at work Article 15

If the employment accident obliges the insured to cease his work, the following procedures shall be adopted :-

In case of accident at work premises; the employer or the authorised Director should notify the police situated within its competence and also he should notify the General Organisation for Social Insurance on the form prepared for this purpose. The insured person himself may notify whenever his health condition permits it.

In case of accident occurring on the way to or from work, and would oblige the worker to keep off from work for treatment; the insured worker should inform the appropriate police station of the accident and also the employer of the date and the number of the police record within 24 hours of the accident.

The insured worker in case of employment accident should request the employer to notify the General Organisation for Social Insurance of the injury sustained on the form prepared for this purpose. In case the employer declines to so inform, with respect to the two aforementioned cases in the foregoing clauses 1 & 2 the injured or his representative should notify the General Organisation for Social Insurance regarding the number and date of the police record.

The insured injured should notify the employer or his representative forthwith the occurrence of the accident even if his injury does not prevent him from continuing his work. When his injury whether at work or on his way to or from work, prevents him from so notifying, he may instruct his representative to notify both the employer and the police within whose jurisdiction the accident occurred and also the General Organisation for Social Insurance.

All these notices should be written on the form No. 1/Injuries/Insurance prepared for this purpose.

Article 16

The daily allowance for days not worked due to the inability of the insured to continue work because of the employment accident, shall be paid from the date of the following day of the occurrence of such injury.

The daily allowance shall be paid on the first day of each month if the treatment due to disability continues more than one month unless the injured worker is receiving his wage weekly or every two weeks, this allowance should be paid according to his request on the dates of such payment.

Daily allowance shall be paid for weekly holidays and public holidays, even if they are unpaid. Daily allowance shall be stopped if the insured worker does not follow the treatment instructions, prescribed by the competent medical authority and they are to be repaid, the moment he follows the said instructions.

The daily allowance shall be paid regardless of the submission of the result of the investigation by the competent officers unless the General Organisation for Social Insurance has any doubt calling for verifying the results from the said investigation.

Article 17

The daily allowance for the injured worker due to employment accident shall be paid according to the recurring treatment card prepared by the General Organisation for Social Insurance verifying the time of treatment during which the injured worker was unable to do his work.

Article 18

The injured worker who sustains partial permanent incapacity shall be entitled to have his daily allowance prescribed according to Article 53 of the aforementioned Social Insurance Law instead of his pension in the following two cases : -

In case of relapse or deterioration resulting from any injury.

During the period of rehabilitation which follows the period of treatment provided that he is unable to do his work during the said period. The daily subsistence allowance shall be calculated on the basis of the monthly contributory salary divided by 30.

Article 19

In the event of relapse or deterioration of the case or if the occupational disease it is provided that any of these cases to produce its legal effect shall fulfil the following :-

It should have resulted from the original injury and not a new injury.

The case of relapse, deterioration or the case of occupational disease should not due to the disregard of the medical instructions or any contravention of the medical instructions or lapse on the part of the worker intentionally.

If the symptoms of the occupational disease appeared before the expiry of one year from the date of the termination of the period of insurance whether they appeared during the period of unemployment or practising a profession, trade or engagement in any other activity from which such occupational disease would not result.

In all cases the assessment of relapse, deterioration or occupational disease shall be referred to the treating doctor. The same procedures prescribed for the case of the original injury in so far as medical treatment and daily allowance shall be applied.

Article 20

The employer should pay the expenses of transportation to the injured for the first time from the place of injury to the treatment centre.

Article 21

The General Organisation for Social Insurance should pay the transport expenses of the injured worker from and to the treatment centre provided the insured worker should follow the treatment instructions prescribed by the doctor.

The said Organisation should also pay the travelling expenses when the injured worker is to be treated abroad and also for his return to his place of work at the end of treatment if his case requires being treated abroad.

The said Organisation should also pay the expenses of transporting the dead body in case of death if he is treated abroad from the prescribed treatment centre to his residential area where he used to work.

Article 22

The treatment doctor shall determine in a medical report the means of transport suitable for the condition of the injured person from his residence place to the place of treatment and vice versa.

Article 23

The General Organisation for Social Insurance shall pay the expenses for the preparation of the dead body and lodging it in a coffin suitable for the process of transport to his residence where his workplace is located if the death occurred abroad, where the said Organisation sent him for treatment.

The expenses referred to in the preceding paragraph in addition to the expenses of transporting the dead body shall be paid to the widow of the insured or to his eldest adult son if either of them incurred the expenses of the preparation of the dead body or any person who proves that he has incurred the expenses on the basis of an official certificate.

If there had not been any person who had not interested himself in the activities with respect to the dead body as referred to in the foregoing two paragraphs, the General Organisation for Social Insurance should pay the actual expenses incurred at the place of treatment in this respect in addition to expenses of transporting the dead body to the place determined in terms of paragraph one of this Article. In this case, the General Organisation for Social Insurance shall not be liable to any other person, whoever he is, for any other additional obligations in this respect.

chapter vi Determination of the Monthly Subsistence in case of the Disappearance of the Insured, and the Determination of the Beneficiaries and the Documents required therefor together with the Required Documents for such Payment.

Article 24

The identical provisions prescribed in case of the death of the insured or the death of the beneficiary shall be followed with respect to the determination of the monthly allowance in the event of the disappearance of the insured or the beneficiary and also with regard to the determination of the entitlements of their beneficiaries and also the assessment of the share for each of them and the contribution of payment thereof.

This allowance is due from the first day of the month in which the Police has been informed about the incident of the disappearance of the insured or the pensioner.

The employer, upon the request of the beneficiaries of the disappeared insured, shall inform the General Organisation for Social Insurance of the date of the stoppage of work by the insured who disappeared within 3 days of the date of the application submitted therefor by those entitled. And those entitled shall submit an application for the monthly allowance payments to the General Organisation for Social Insurance accompanied by the following documents provided that they mention therein the number and date of the Police report about the incident of disappearance :-

a report from the competent court stating that the insured or the pensioner suffered a justifiable death.

the identical documents required for the payment of pension on account of natural death barring the death certificate.

chapter vii Death Grant

Article 25

Payment of six month death grant for the insured or the pensioner shall be to his widow or widows and in their absence to the eldest son or to the beneficiaries at time of death.

The death grant for the deceased, shall be paid on the basis of the wage subject to the insurance contribution in case the labour relation was not terminated or on the basis of his pension in the event of the deceased being a pensioner.

Payment shall be on the basis of the following documents:-

An application submitted by the entitled beneficiaries to the General Organisation for Social Insurance on Form No. 3/Pensions/Insurance after having been completed and authenticated.

Death certificate or any other official document in its place, to be accepted by the said Organisation.

An order from the law court or competent officer in the country of the insured.

The beneficiaries shall be determined according to Articles 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84 and 85 of the Law.

chapter viii Marriage Grant

Article 26

Marriage grant is to be paid to those who receive a pension from the General Organisation for Social Insurance as a widow or widows of the insured or the widow of the pensioner and his daughter and the daughter of the deceased son or the sister. It is to be assessed by multiplying the pension by fifteen. Pension is to be stopped at the end of the month in which marriage takes place.

The marriage grant is to be paid once only according to the marriage contract or ecclesiastical nuptial contract for non Muslims.

chapter ix Regulations with respect to Daily Allowance Payment or to Periodical Pensions or any other Entitlements

Article 27

The Director of the General Organisation for Social Insurance may issue an order for payment of periodical pensions to those entitled before their maturity.

Article 28

The General Organisation for Social Insurance may pay the daily allowance or the periodical pension, or any other entitlements in cash from its coffers if they are less than BD. 50.

If the amount of the allowance or the periodical pension or any other entitlements exceeds the sum referred to in the foregoing paragraphs, the payment shall be by cheque against the account of the said Organisation in the bank or by depositing it in the current account of the pensioner, or the beneficiary in one of the banks determined by either. Payment may follow either of these methods according to a written application submitted by those concerned whatever the amount of the allowance or the pension or the entitled sum may be.

Pension may also be paid to the curator or the guardian or custodian or the representative with respect to each case following the machinery mentioned in the above two paragraphs.

Chapter x General Provisions

Article 29

Without prejudice to the provisions of Part VI and Article 135 of the above-mentioned Law the total pensions of the beneficiaries shall not exceed in any case, the amount of the pension determined for the insured or the deceased pensioner. In the event of the total of these pensions exceeding the foregoing pension, the pension of each of them shall be reduced according to the proportion of his share, and if the cancellation of the pension of any one of the beneficiaries so as to make the total pensions of the rest of the beneficiaries less than the amount of the original pension, these pensions shall be increased proportionally to make the total reaches the amount of the original pension.

Article 30

Payment of the pensions shall commence generally on the date at which the required conditions for entitlement to pension shall have been satisfied and they shall be stopped on the date of the death of the entitled or the date these required conditions for entitlement are not satisfied.

Article 31

Those entitled to pensions in case of the partial permanent disability or the total disability resulting from employment accident shall be deserving their pensions from the date of the stoppage of the daily allowance payment to the injured.

In case of the change of the degree of disability on the medical re-examination of the injured worker due to employment accident, and being entitled to disability pension in place of the paid up compensation, the said Organisation shall pay it at the first month following the date of the latest degree of disability thus deducting from it, within the limit of the quarter of the monthly pension, the difference between the paid up compensation and the assumed amount of pension which was supposed to be paid to him on the basis of the degree of disability estimated in the first case till he has reimbursed what has been paid to him of such compensation. Pension shall be assed on the basis of the wage entitled to him on the settlement of the first disability or the wage given to him at the time of the occurrence of the injury or relapse or deterioration whatever more beneficial to him.

Article 32

When the service of the insured is terminated due to natural disability or death an ex-gratia period estimated for three years shall be added to the period of his contribution to insurance on the computation of his pension provided it shall not exceed the remaining period for reaching the age of sixty for the male insured or the age of fifty five for the female insured with the provisio that the pension shall not be less than 40% of the average monthly wage to which he has paid the contribution to insurance during the last year or the period of contribution to insurance if it is less than that.

Article 33

When the service of the insured is terminated according to one of the three cases referred to in Article 34 of the Social Insurance Law or because of the settlement of the natural disability case, pension shall be calculated with effect from the beginning of the following day of the termination of his service and shall be paid on the first day of each month.

Article 34

When the service of the insured is terminated due to natural death or employment accident, pension shall be calculated to those concerned at the beginning of the following day of the occurrence of death and shall be paid on the first day of each month.

Article 35

This Order shall be published in the Official Gazette and it shall come into effect from the date of its publication.

Issa bin Mohamed bin Abdulla Al Khalifa Minister for Labour and Social Affairs

Dated : 24 April 1978