UNEMPLOYED Bahrainis could continue receiving financial benefits until they land a suitable job under a parliamentary proposed legislation approved unanimously yesterday.
The amendments to the 2006 Insurance Against Unemployment Law would cancel all time frames surrounding payment of monthly unemployment allowances, and permit repeated benefit claims even if the Bahraini concerned had quit his position or been sacked.
The legislation has been presented by Parliament’s first deputy speaker Abdulnabi Salman and recommended by the services and financial and economic affairs committees.
Currently, unemployed university graduates receive BD200 monthly and those with secondary school certificates BD150 monthly for up to nine months. Those who leave work willingly or are dismissed receive up to BD1,000 a month as an allowance also for a maximum of nine months.
The Social Insurance Organisation (SIO) warned that the proposal, if implemented, would encourage unemployed Bahrainis to take it easy, rather than hunt to fill vacancies.
“No comprehensive study has been done on the outcome of the proposal presented by MPs – its effect on the labour market, the Unemployment Fund, or the unemployment rate,” the SIO said. “The move would only put national employment plans in limbo.”
Currently, employees pay one per cent from their monthly wage towards the Unemployment Fund while employers and the government contribute 1pc each.
The fund has been dipped into six times over the past five years. A total of BD230 million was used to fund civil servants’ early retirement scheme in 2019, and BD340m four times to cover private sector employees’ wages during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, and BD200m to help fund Tamkeen’s employment and wage support programmes last year.
The fund’s revenues are around BD80m yearly and BD6m covers manpower and allowances. The fund had around BD500m in its coffers at the end of 2020. The SIO provided no new statistics while responding to the proposed legislative changes.
“There are circumstances where Bahrainis remain without a job for more than nine months,” Mr Salman said yesterday during the parliamentary session.
“Some of those who leave a place of work, or are sacked, don’t get re-employed within nine months, and some could be forced off work on multiple occasions,” he added.
“I believe, the current time frame of nine months is unfair as it robs rightful unemployed people of state support.”
MPs also unanimously approved amendments to the 1976 Social Insurance Law that would see the SIO include all Bahraini newcomers being trained by private establishments under its pension books as ‘employees’.
The proposed legislation presented by foreign affairs, defence and national security committee vice-chairwoman MP Dr Mariam Al Dhaen would see Tamkeen pay monthly contributions to the fund, on behalf of the trainees, until an employment contract was signed.
The SIO and Tamkeen stressed, in writing, that this move was already being implemented.
The Labour Ministry said the registered wages of the trainees should be higher than the monthly unemployment allowance, if MPs want to go ahead with the legislation, to ensure fairness.
“It only includes new entrants into the labour market and does not include existing employees and we have received many complaints from current employees in the private sector who receive salaries of less than BD300, who cannot benefit from this initiative,” said Strategic Thinking Bloc president MP Ahmed Al Salloom. “Note that the number of Bahrainis who receive low salaries in the private sector is large.”
According to the latest statistics available from the Social Insurance Organisation (SIO), which is the statistical report for the third quarter of 2023, there were 1,953 Bahrainis whose salaries were less than BD200, and about 38,258 Bahrainis whose salaries ranged from between BD200 to BD399.
Parliament also unanimously approved amendments to the 2013 Real Estate Registration Law that would allow owners of disputed properties to rent/mortgage or sell the asset even while a court verdict was pending. Currently, the law does not allow the owner to carry out any deals while a case is pending.
The Real Estate Regulatory Authority objected to the ‘unfair’ amendment, and said it would create chaos as the court could issue a verdict against the property owner putting any deal into limbo.
The proposed legislation has been presented by five MPs, led by Mamdooh Al Saleh.
All will be now drafted as proper legislations by the government and returned to the National Assembly for consideration.
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