Over 68% of Jordanian workers lack social security coverage — Tamkeen

AMMAN — A recent assessment conducted by the Social Protection Observatory of "Tamkeen" for Legal Aid and Human Rights on "Social Protection in the Most Vulnerable Sectors in the Jordanian Labour Market", revealed that  68.5 per cent of the evaluation sample is not included under social security. 

According to Tamkeen, despite the mandate of the Social Security Law, which stipulates that every worker, without exception, is obliged to have a Social Security subscription, a significant number of workers are not included in social security coverage.

The evaluation was based on a sample of 7,938 female and male workers.

‏In a statement made available to The Jordan Times, Tamkeen said, "33.4 per cent of the sample who are enrolled in social security remain unaware of the precise deduction rate from their wages.” Tamkeen also called for proper education to the enrollees regarding the significance of understanding the deduction rate and to offer clearer explanations. 

“Social security participants need to be informed about how the deduction is computed and its implications on their income,” the statement said.

Around 61.6 per cent of registrants are aware of the accurate percentage, while 5 per cent mistakenly believe the deduction percentage to be higher. 

Further, the evaluation showed that “delaying the payment of wages is one of the issues that workers usually raise as a complaint”, hindering their continuation in work.

In its evaluation, Tamkeen recommended activating control and issuing the necessary legislation to ensure wages are delivered to workers on time.