المملكة: Requiring 5 days to announce government jobs…and a “golden handshake” for the resignation of civil service employees

The approval of the highest authorities was issued to create a program called “Golden Handshake” for government agencies whose employees are subject to the civil service ladder, aiming to motivate people to leave the service through resignation, with the allocation of 12.7 billion riyals for the first three years of the program.
This decision requires all government agencies subject to the civil service ladder to announce their vacant positions through the electronic system of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development for a period of five days, with the aim of filling them by transferring employees between different government agencies.

Objectives of the Golden Handshake Program

If the government entity is unable to fill the position announced through the system, it is allowed to advertise it in accordance with the procedures regulating job filling.
This excludes employee jobs, wages, and excluded jobs, in addition to vital and critical jobs determined by the competent authorities.
The decision also includes assigning the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development and the Ministry of Finance to inventory vacant positions in government agencies that have been vacant for five years or more, in coordination with the relevant authorities, in preparation for canceling them.

New jobs

In addition, any position created in the state’s general budget will be canceled if it is not filled within two years from the date of its creation.
The decision also stipulated the amendment of Article 11 of the list of those appointed to the wage clause, so that those appointed to the wage clause are treated similarly to civil service employees in terms of working hours, vacations, official holidays, and allowances, including transportation allowance, additional bonus, incentive bonus, training, and secondment.
One of the most prominent contents of the decision is the introduction of the “Golden Handshake” program for government agencies subject to the civil service ladder.

Program terms and conditions

This program aims to give employees who wish to resign a financial incentive, and the controls and conditions of the program, including the targeted age groups and the number of years of service required, will be determined by the competent authorities.
Within the framework of enhancing labor market flexibility, the decision allowed government agencies to fill a percentage of their jobs through partial contracting, provided that this percentage is determined by agreement between the concerned authority and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development.