The House of Representatives will hold a morning legislative session on Wednesday to discuss a bill amending the Social Security Law, which was approved by the Labor, Social Development and Population Committee last Sunday.

The Parliamentary Action Committee approved the draft law, after introducing appropriate amendments to its articles, which aim to provide more social protection for all insured segments of society, especially those related to women and youth, the Jordanian Armed Forces and security services, military retirees and the injured among them.

The head of the committee, Tammam Al-Riyati, said earlier that the committee approved the amendments to the draft social security law after a series of dialogues and meetings, during which a number of proposals and fundamental amendments were discussed, which would improve and improve the draft law.

She pointed out that most of the approved amendments concern military retirees, stressing that the committee has set its sights on achieving the highest standards of justice to achieve more compatibility and non-discrimination between military retirees under the Military Retirement Law and retirees under the Social Security Law.

And she indicated that the most prominent of these amendments are those mentioned in Article (2) of the draft law, where the committee kept the original text that includes maintaining the definition of the presidency of the Social Security Board of Directors in the Ministry of Labor, noting that this amendment comes as an affirmation of the committee’s keenness to maintain the Ministry of Labor.

The committee also decided, according to Al-Riyati, to amend the number of maternity insurance contributions mentioned in Article (6) from (8) contributions to (6) contributions, whether continuous or intermittent, in order to ensure more social protection for women and to enhance their role and empower them at work and protect them.

And she continued, “With regard to Article (7) Paragraph C, which stipulates a reduction in contributions for establishments in the private sector that employ people under 30 years of age, the Parliamentary Labor Party decided to delete it.

She pointed out that it was approved that workers in agricultural holdings be included in the rest of the insurance, and that it be issued through a system approved by the Council of Ministers and not through instructions.

Al-Riyati indicated that the Ministry of Finance is concerned with covering the contributions of military retirees after their retirement period of 20 years, in the event that they have not reached the age of 45.

The House of Representatives, in a legislative session, referred the draft law to the Parliamentary Work Committee, giving it the status of urgency after it was sent by the government.

The Council of Ministers approved the draft law on December 27, with the aim of strengthening the governance of the Social Security Corporation by amending the mechanism for appointing the chairman of the institution’s board of directors so that the board of directors is headed by a minister who is named by the Council of Ministers based on the prime minister’s recommendation.

It includes amending the mechanism for appointing the vice-chairman of the board of directors so that the board elects from among its members a vice-chairman other than the general manager of the institution and the head of the social security funds investment fund, as well as amending the mechanism for appointing the vice-chairman of the social security funds investment board so that the investment board elects him from among its members. So that he is not the head of the Social Security Fund Investment Fund, or the general manager of the Social Security Corporation.

The bill also includes; Procedures to motivate private sector establishments to employ unemployed youth by enabling them to reduce the rates of contributions resulting from their inclusion in the provisions of the law.

It also aims to provide more protection for the insured woman by amending the conditions for entitlement to maternity leave allowance, and to achieve more social protection for the divorced or widowed daughter and sister, by granting her a share of the salary of her deceased father or brother.

The draft law regulates the legal status of the military retiree before completing the age of forty-five, adding an additional year of service for workers in the Jordanian Armed Forces and security services who are at work on 10/6/2020, and achieving more privileges for the military and the injured among them.