Cabinet okays draft amendments to Social Security Law

AMMAN — The Cabinet on Tuesday approved draft amendments to the Social Security Law for 2022, prior to referring it to Parliament to proceed with legal procedures for its endorsement.

The draft amendments, approved during a Cabinet session headed by Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh, aims to enhance governance of the Social Security Corporation (SSC) through amending the mechanism of appointing its chairman of the board of directors, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The board of directors will be headed by the minister to be named by the Cabinet upon a recommendation by the prime minister. 

Amendments also include a mechanism to appoint the deputy chairman, where the board shall elect a deputy from members who are neither SSC’s director general nor the chairman of the Social Security Investment Fund (SSIF).

Amendments also included the mechanism to appoint the deputy chairman of the SSIF, where the deputy shall be elected by members of the SSIF board of directors and shall not be the chairman of the SSIF or the SSC director general.

The bill also includes procedures to stimulate the private sector to employ jobless youth through enabling private facilities to reduce the percentages of subscriptions incurred for covering employees.

It also seeks to provide more protection to female subscribers through amending conditions to benefit from maternity leaves and realising more social protection for divorced daughters and sisters or widows by granting them a share of pensions of their deceased fathers or brothers. 

The bill also regulates the legal status of military pensioners before they complete the age of 45, and adds an extra year of service for employees in the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army and security agencies who were still on duty on June 10, 2020, in a bid to grant more incentives for military personnel and injured servicemen.