PART 1: THE CONSOLIDATED ACT ON SOCIAL INSURANCE

CHAPTER XII

CONCLUDING PROVISIONS

Article 135*

An old-age pension and a non-employment disability and death pension, as well as the pension for permanent total disability and death arising out of an employment injury shall be paid at a minimum rate of BD. 135/- per month; or the full wage subject to the social insurance participation if less than that, provided that in all cases it shall not be less than thirty dinars even if the insured worker is without pay.

The minimum share of the pension of an heir including the pensioner himself, if the pension is divided among them, shall be BD. 25/- provided that the total amount payable shall not exceed the amount to which pensioner himself was entitled.

*The maximum pension provided for in the preceding paragraph of this article shall be 80% of the wages on the basis of which the pension in both branches of the social insurance has been calculated as the case may be.

Where the monthly pension is in excess of the maximum referred to in the preceding paragraph, the insured person or his heirs shall be entitled, in addition to the pension, to compensation of a lump sum assessed at 11% of the annual wages provided for in Article 43 for every year reckoned in the period of participation in the social insurance which is in excess of the maximum period required to quality for the above mentioned maximum, after deducting any period deemed to be contributory or other periods during which social insurance contributions for the insured person have had not been paid.

Such deductions shall not include the periods in private schemes reckoned in the period of pension in application of Article 35 hereof, nor the periods reckoned for the leaving indemnity.

*First was modified by Decree-Law No. 1/1985 as the text was 75% of the average wage or BD. 350/- per month whichever is lesser; and this amendment applied only to pensions due after the effective date thereof and then the minimum pension was raised to BD. 80/- per month for the beneficiary and BD. 15/- for each of the heirs, and the ratio was raised to 80% by Prime Ministerial Edict No. 11/1989 published in the Official Gazette No. 1581 dated 18/5/1989; and then the minimum was raised to BD. 115/- per month and the share of each of the beneficiaries including the pensioner himself was raised to BD. 20/- with the same conditions (Prime Ministerial Edict No. 9/1993 published in the Official Gazette No. 2054 of April 1993).
This was increased as of 1st July 1998 to BD. 135/- and BD. 25/- respectively. (Prime Ministerial Edict No. 17 for 1998 published in the Official Gazette No. 2333 on 12th August 1998).

In the event of death of the insured person, the lump sum compensation referred to in the third paragraph above, shall be distributed on a pro-rata basis among the heirs.

A fraction of one hundred fils which is fifty fils or more shall be rounded to one hundred fils, and any fraction of less than fifty fils shall not be taken into account.

" **Also pensions which are payable by virtue of the application of the Law shall be raised according to the following :-

First: 15% of the monthly pension if it is less than BD. 50
Second: 10% of the monthly pension if it is BD. 50 or more,

even if the increments mentioned in these two clauses shall result in exceeding the maximum determined for a pension in any of the aforesaid law.

The increment stipulated above shall not be less than the sum of BD. 7.500 for the pensioner, the beneficiary or in respect of the total pensions of beneficiaries thereof.

The sum of one fils shall be rounded up to become 100 fils.

The payment of the increment mentioned in the foregoing paragraphs shall not prejudice the Family Allowance Scheme determined in accordance with the Prime Ministerial Edict No. 12/1979."

Article 136*

Subject to the provisions of Article 39, 40 and 142 if a pensioner is re-employed in a remunerative employment which is subject to this Law, he shall combine between the pension to which he is entitled and the salary gained from such employment provided that the total shall not exceed the average salary or the salary upon which the pension has been calculated. If the total exceeds the said limit, the increase shall be calculated from the pension throughout the period during which he received that increase. If the period of the pensioner's re-employment in a remunerative job is one year or more and his service was terminated for any reason except that of suffering a new employment injury or if there are complications of a previous employment injury, the pension shall, in both cases, be calculated according to the entire last period in accordance with the aforementioned Article 39 and shall be added to the previous pension, provided that the total of the two pensions or several pensions, as the case may be, shall not exceed the average salary upon which the first pension has been calculated.

* The new text is modified by Decree-Law No. 15/1987 published in the Official Gazette No. 1773 dated 19 November 1987.
** These increments were introduced by Decree-Law No. 8/1980.

Should the service of the original pensioner be terminated due to a new employment injury or complications of a previous injury or injuries caused prior to joining the remunerative employment referred to in the foregoing paragraph, or if his service is terminated due to an employment injury resulting in his death, he shall be treated according to the provisions of the employment, injuries provided for in the Social Insurance Law, provided that the total of pensions shall not exceed the contributory salary upon which the first pension was calculated.

An insured, a pensioner or beneficiaries thereof shall also combine between the pensions provided for in the branch of insurance against old age, disability and death and in the branch of insurance against employment injuries, with the proviso that in all cases, the total pensions shall not exceed the average salary or the salary on the basis of which the pension has been calculated.

Article 137

Pensions shall not be paid abroad to pensioners normally resident in the State of Bahrain except in cases to be prescribed by an Order of the Minister for Labour and Social Affairs upon a recommendation of the Board of Directors. Such Order shall specify the conditions and manner in which such payment may be made.

Article 138

A non-citizen or his heirs shall be paid, upon final departure from Bahrain the following entitlements, provided his participation in the social insurance exceeds three years and that he does not qualify for any of the pensions prescribed in this law:

a. his entitlements in the private scheme of his employer, which have been made over to the General Organisation, for the period preceding participation in the social insurance, and the leaving indemnity paid by the employer to the said Organisation for such period, plus a simple interest of 5% per annum on such entitlements or indemnity from the date of the payment thereof to the General Organisation to the date of such payment. No interest for a fraction of a year shall be computed;
b. the total of the contributions in the social insurance against old-age, disability and death paid for him by his employer and those deducted from his wage, plus a grant equivalent to not less than 3% of such total.

Article 139
 
If a period of a non-citizen's participation in the social insurance is three years or less and he is not entitled to any pension from the General Organisation, the said Organisation shall pay to him upon his leaving Bahrain finally :-
a. his entitlements referred to in clause (a) of the preceding Article, plus the interest provided for in such clause subject to the condition set forth therein;
   
b.

the total of only the contributions in the social insurance against old-age, disability and death as deducted from the wages of the insured, plus a grant equivalent to not less than 3%. Such grant shall be paid only if he has participated in the social insurance for a period of at least twelve consecutive or interrupted months;

In case of entitlement of the non-citizen insured person to old-age, invalidity or death to a pension in accordance with any of articles 34, 37, 41, 42, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61 and 62, his entitlements shall be computed and the old-age, invalidity and death pension thus resulting from applying the articles alluded to shall be substituted by a lump sum calculated in accordance with the index numbers mentioned in the first column of Schedule 6 annexed to this Law.(1)
   
c. an amount equivalent to his leaving indemnity due according to the provisions of the Labour Law for the Private Sector or to the contracts of employment, basic work regulations or to what the employer used to pay to his workers whichever is more beneficial to him with a maximum of eight and half per cent of the annual contributory salary according to which contributions to social insurance against old-age, invalidity and death are paid multiplied by the number of contributory years in social insurance.(2)

(1) This is the modified text by Amiri Decree Law No. 27/1976 issued on 25th August 1976.
(2) This paragraph has been included by the said Amiri Decree Law No. 27/1976.

Article 140

Where the death of an insured non-citizen occurs before leaving the country, the entitlements referred to in clause (a) of both articles 138 and 139 above, shall be paid in full to those whom he so designated in writing during his lifetime; otherwise such entitlements shall be distributed in accordance with the rules of inheritance valid in his own country.
Payment of the total of the contributions referred to in clause (b) of both Articles 138 and 139 above, shall be paid in the manner set forth in Article 38 hereof and under the conditions as prescribed in the second paragraph thereof after deducting the amount of pensions which have been paid to him or to then; otherwise the total sum shall be referred to the relevant social insurance fund.

Article 141

Payment of the entitlements referred to in Articles 138, 139 and 140 above shall terminate any right arising out of the social insurances provided for herein.

Article 142

An insured person who has sustained an injury, or his heirs who are beneficiaries under the provisions of this law, is not entitled to compensation payable for an employment or non-employment injury under any other law from the General Organisation.
Moreover, such persons and heirs shall have no right to claim against the employer unless the injury was a result of a fault on his part.

Article 143

The General Organisation shall be liable for the entitlements prescribed in Chapter V hereof for a period of one Gregorian calendar year from the date of the termination of service of the insured person if during such period symptoms of one of the occupational diseases listed in Schedule 3 annexed to this law are diagnosed and or if such symptoms become apparent during his unemployment or if he is engaged in an industry, occupation or work in which such a disease may not be contracted.

Article 144

The General Organisation may commute the entitlement of a pensioner into a lump sum to be determined as the capital of the commuted value of pension, in accordance with Schedule 6 annexed to this Law.

Such commutation shall be within the limits and under the conditions and in the manner and cases as specified by order of the Minister for Labour and Social Affairs upon a recommendation of the Board of Directors.

Such pensioner may at any time request that such commutation be suspended. This Order of the Minister for Labour and Social Affairs referred to in the preceding paragraph shall include the relevant conditions and the sums which must be returned to the General Organisation in this event.

Article 145

Such commutation shall be deemed to exist as from the date of accepting the assessment of the capital, and the instalments so due in repayment shall be deducted in advance from the pension in the manner determined by the Ministerial Order referred to in the preceding Article.

Article 146

Payments due to the heirs of a pensioner who has commuted part of his pension, shall be settled as if such pensioner had not commuted any of his pension, and such heirs may not commute any part of their portion thereof.

Article 147

The provisions of Articles 144, 145 and 146 shall not apply to non-citizen pensioners or their heirs under the provisions of this Law.


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