Contributions

Current law requires that only employees holding Kuwaiti citizenship pay into the Social Security system. Both employees and employers are required to contribute the following amounts:

• Employers contribution = 11%
• Employees contribution = 7.75 (effective 1 August, 2010)

The monthly ceiling (capping) for any Kuwaiti employee's contribution to the Social Security system is KD 2,500.

Work regulation

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor is responsible for enforcing labor laws in Kuwait. In some circumstances, different rules and regulations apply, and may vary greatly by company and business, and are usually outlined in labor contracts. Below is a brief summary of some, but not all, benefits provided under the current labor law. According to Amendment 2 of the Labor Law, previsions of the present law shall not apply to domestic service workers and/or workers governed by other laws, as provided in the said laws.

• Both men and women may be employed in Kuwait
• Labor contracts are drawn up between the two parties, outlining the start date and wage agreed upon. Other conditions may be written into the contract.
•  Probationary periods may not exceed 100 days, and no person shall be forced to do additional probationary periods for the same company/firm.
• Labor contracts may be fixed-term (not exceeding more than five years) or indefinite. Contracts may be renewed after fixed-term periods expire.
• All contracts must be drawn up in Arabic, but can be translated into other languages. The Arabic version, however, will be legally binding, in the event of a dispute between employee and employer.
• Strict rules apply to the employing of juveniles. For example, cannot work for more than 6 hours per day, cannot work from sunset to sunup and must be at least 14 years old.
• Females are not permitted to work at night.
• Female workers cannot be employed in hazardous work (as defined by ministry rules).
• Expectant mothers who are working are entitled to maternity leave with full pay up to thirty days before birth and forty days after birth.
• Mothers of new born children may elect to extend their leave for an additional 100 days without pay, so long as a medical doctor says so.
• Female employees must be paid the same wage as males if they're doing identical work as a male employee.
• Employee is entitled to one day of rest per work week.  
• Employee is entitled to nine days off, with pay, for official public holidays. If made to work during public holidays, employee is entitled to double pay.
•  Employee is entitled to yearly sick leave, calculated as follows: first six days off with full pay, the following six days off with ¾ pay, the next six days at ½ pay, another six days with ¼ pay followed by the next six days off without pay.
• Employees cannot work more than eight hours per day, forty hours per week.
• Employee is entitled to 14 days vacation for every year of work. At five years of continuous employment, employee is entitled to 21 days of vacation.
• The employer shall have the right to determine when an employee can take vacation.
• Employer must provide transportation to all employees if work site is inaccessible by public transportation.

Additional labor rules and regulations can be found in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor's Labor Laws.

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