Social Insurance Law
PART 4: MINISTERIAL ORDERS
MINISTERIAL ORDER NO. 5/1988 WITH RESPECT TO ENFORCING LEGISLATIVE DECREE NO. 15 OF 1987 WITH RESPECT TO AMENDING CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE SOCIAL INSURANCE LAW ENACTED BY LEGISLATIVE DECREE NO. 24 OF 1976
The Minister for Labour and Social Affairs, Having examined the Social Insurance Law promulgated by Legislative Decree No. 24 of 1976 and Laws in amendment thereof; And Legislative Decree No. 15 of 1987 with respect to amending certain provisions of the Social Insurance Law enacted by Legislative Decree No. 24 of 1976; And upon the submission of the Director General of the General Organisation for Social Insurance; Hereby orders :
Article 1
Old age (retirement) pensions of insured persons whose services have been terminated shall be settled and re-calculated according to the provisions of the Social Insurance Law until the effective date of Legislative Decree No. 15 of 1987 by the addition of a hypothetical contribution period of sixty insurance months to the period for which they have become entitled to receive a pension from GOSI. Such hypothetical period shall be added without payment of any contributions for the period or periods rendering and insured eligible to receive the aforesaid pension or the modified pensions with effect from the pension due and payable for the month of December 1987.
Further, pension accounts shall also be settled on the basis of the period or periods rendering a person eligible to receive old age (retirement) pensions to which shall be added the hypothetical contribution period referred to in the preceding Paragraph. This shall be applicable to the persons whose employment is terminated during the effective period of Legislative Decree No. 15 of 1987, that is the pensions due until 30th November 1992.
Article 2
If the wages on the basis of which insurance contributions are calculated vary, and if the insureds or their beneficiaries request the assessment of the pension on the basis of the basis of dividing the period of contributing to insurance into separate periods according to Article 43 of the Social Insurance Law, regard shall be given in settling and re-calculating the old age (retirement) pension to calculate the pension in proportion to the hypothetical period referred to in the preceding Article on the basis of the average wage while the provisions of Articles 39, 40, 41 and 43 of the Social Insurance Law shall be complied with.
Article 3
The following steps shall be complied with in making the settlement and calculation of pensions according to the conditions governing each, namely as follows :
- Addition of the hypothetical 3 years referred to in Article 41 of the Social Insurance Law in cases of disability and death for non-occupational reasons.
- Addition of the purchased period or periods, if any.
- Addition of the periods for which the insured receives daily allowances due to employment injuries
- In the calculation of insurance contribution periods, a fraction of a month shall be rounded up to a full month in each period, then a fraction of a year in the total of such periods shall be rounded up to a whole year if such course of action shall result in the insured's entitlement to a pension.
- Addition of the hypothetical sixty insurance months referred to in the case of settlement of old age (retirement) pensions.
- Ensuring the application of the prescribed increases for pensioners and their beneficiaries during the lifetime of a beneficiary or after his death.
- Ensuring compliance with provisions governing the minimum of a beneficiary's pension and the minimum of the pension of each of the insured's beneficiaries.
- Ensuring the application of provisions governing the family grant scheme
Article 4
If a pensioner who has retired due to old age or a natural disability is re-employed in a remunerative position, which is subject to the Social Insurance Law, he shall combine between the pension to which he is entitled as a beneficiary and the salary gained from such employment as an insured. If the total exceeds either the average wage or the wage on the basis of which the old-age (retirement) pension or the disability pension has been calculated, the excess shall be deducted from the pension throughout the period of obtaining in and the reduction of the pension shall continue to the extent of increments to his wage.
In case of termination of the new period or periods of the pensioner's service for which he is contributing to the social insurance scheme for old age, disability and death, the pension shall be settled for the two or more periods of contributing to the social insurance scheme as being a single unit, either on the basis of the average of the two averages of wages for each period or the average of wages for the entire new period, - or on the basis of the average of wages for the last period thereof whichever is more favourable to him provided that the pension calculated accordingly shall not be less than that if calculated according to the preceding bases referred to with due regard to articles (39, 40, 41, 43) of the Social Insurance Law. If the added period is less than one year a lump sum shall be paid in such case.
The hypothetical three-year period referred to in Article 41 of the aforesaid Law may not be calculated as part of the period(s) contributing to the insurance in the event of disability except once.
Article 5
If a pensioner who has retired due to old age is re-employed in a remunerative job which is subject to the Social Insurance Law, and should his employment be terminated due to an employment injury or by reason of complications of a previous employment injury, in such case the settlement shall be made according to the provisions of the insurance branch against employment injuries set forth in the Social Insurance Law. In such case, a pensioner may combine between the old age pension and the pension due for disability or death because of an employment injury.
Article 6
If a pensioner who receives a pension by reason of an employment injury continues his employment or takes up another remunerative job, which is subject to the Social Insurance Law, he shall combine between the pension and the salary without any limits according to the aforesaid Law. Should his service be terminated due to a new employment injury or due to a completion of the previous employment injury or injuries affecting his continued employment or his joining the remunerative job, his new pension shall be assessed on the basis of the total resulting disability from all his injuries and the wage at the time of establishing the disability arising from the most recent injury, provided that his pension shall not be less than the pension of the earlier injury should it be more favourable.
In all cases, GOSI shall comply with the provisions of Articles 71, 72, 73 and 74 and Paragraph two of Article 106 of the same Law.
However, if the insured was not a pensioner and was previously compensated for his previous injury or injuries by a lump sum compensation, and if his employment in his previous job or new job is terminated due to a new employment injury resulting in a permanent or partial disability representing a percentage of 30% or more of total disability, in such case GOSI shall pay thereto a pension from which shall be deducted the difference between the compensation that was previously paid thereto presuming he was entitled to a pension instead paid on a monthly basis to be calculated on the basis of the estimated degree of disability in each previous time(s), and the new pension. The deduction shall be to the extent of one quarter of the pension until the compensation paid thereto shall be fully recovered.
Article 7
As from 1st December 1987 which is the effective date of Legislative Decree No. 15 of 1987 an insured or pensioner or beneficiaries shall combine between the pension accrued according to the branch of insurance against old age, natural disability and death and the pension accrued to the branch of insurance against employment injuries, as the case may be.
Article 8
If an insured is re-employed in a remunerative job, which is subject to the Social Insurance Law, and shall he be entitled to a pension for his earlier employment period(s) according to Law No. 13 of 1975 Governing Pensions and Retirement Benefits for Civil Servants and Government Employees as amended, or Law No. 11 of 1976 with respect to Promulgating the Law Governing Pensions and Retirement Benefits for Bahrain Defence Force and Public Security as amended, and should his service be terminated from the said job, his pension shall be settled according to the provisions of the preceding Articles of this Order, provided that the period of contributing to the insurance for the remunerative job in which he was re-employed shall not be less than one year. The first pension shall be added thereto and the pensioner shall receive a pension equalling the total of both, subject to the provisions of Prime Ministerial Edict No. 5 of 1981 with respect to the Rules Governing the Exchange of Reserves between various Retirement Funds, otherwise GOSI shall be bound to pay the pension accrued thereto according to the Law for the new period.
Article 9
Without prejudice to Article 6 of this Order, the total of the two pensions or more accrued according to the Social Insurance Law shall not exceed the maximum pension provided for therein. It shall not exceed the average wage or the wage according to which the pension was calculated, whichever is larger, even though the two pensions or more pensions have accrued for the first and second insurance branches.
There shall be expected from the above, the cases where the two pensions or several pensions have been equally apportioned among the beneficiaries and where the share of each is less than the legally prescribed minimum, including the share of the eligible pensioner during his lifetime or according to the prescribed rates after his death, the share of each shall be increased to the aforesaid minimum even though the total shares exceed the two or several pensions calculated for the eligible pensioner or if the total shares, including that of the eligible pensioner exceed the maximum pension provided for in the Law. The addition shall be deemed in all cases a family grant for the eligible pensioner and for his beneficiaries, and the payment thereof shall continue so long as the conditions thereof continue to be fulfilled during the lifetime of the eligible pensioner or after his death.
Article 10
The Director General of the General Organisation for Social Insurance shall implement this Order, which shall be published in the Official Gazette.
Signed : Khalifa bin Salman bin Mohamed Al Khalifa
Minister for Labour and Social Affairs
Dated : 9 April 1988