Work Injury in the Saudi Labor Law: Who Covers Treatment, and What is the Compensation?

"If a worker suffers a work injury or an occupational disease, the employer is obligated to provide treatment and cover all necessary expenses, either directly or indirectly. This includes hospital stays, medical tests and analyses, X-rays, prosthetic devices, and transportation costs to treatment locations."

"An injury is considered a work injury as defined by the Social Insurance system. Occupational diseases are treated as work injuries, and the date of the first medical observation of the disease is considered the date of the injury."

"A relapse or any complications arising from the injury are treated as part of the original injury, and the same rules for assistance and treatment apply."

"If you are temporarily unable to work due to a work-related injury, you have the right to financial assistance equal to your full wage for thirty days. After that, you are entitled to 75% of your wage for the entire period of your treatment. If the treatment lasts a year or it is medically determined that recovery is unlikely and your health condition prevents you from working, the injury is considered a total disability. In this case, the contract is terminated, and you are compensated for the injury. The employer does not have the right to reclaim any payments made to you during that year."

"If an injury results in total permanent disability or leads to the death of the injured person, the injured person or their beneficiaries have the right to compensation equivalent to their salary for a period of 3 years, with a minimum amount of 54,000 riyals. If the injury results in partial permanent disability, the injured person is entitled to compensation equal to the percentage of that estimated disability, according to the approved disability percentage guide, multiplied by the value of the total permanent disability compensation."

"Occupational diseases are determined according to the schedule of occupational diseases specified in the Social Insurance system. The degrees of total or partial permanent disability are determined according to the schedule of disability percentages outlined in the mentioned system."

"The employer is not obligated by Articles 133, 137, and 138 of this system if any of the following are proven: 1 - The worker intentionally injured themselves. 2 - The injury occurred due to intentional misconduct by the worker. 3 - The worker refused to see a doctor or refused to accept treatment from the doctor assigned by the employer without a valid reason."

"The responsibility of previous employers where the worker contracted an occupational disease is determined based on the medical report from the treating doctor. These employers are required to provide compensation as specified in Article 138 of this system, each according to the duration the worker spent in their service. This is on the condition that the industries or professions they engage in are those that could cause the disease the worker contracted."

"The procedures for reporting work injuries are determined by a decision from the minister."