Uphill struggle for social and employee benefitsJEDDAH – Workers with mental illnesses face an uphill battle in the country to get recognition and access to social and employee benefits. Saudi Gazette spoke to a number of sufferers and experts in the field about this problem. Ahmad Mohammad Al-Hibshi is incapable of working. He suffers from schizophrenia, is bipolar, has mild epilepsy and has a sleep disorder. He used to work at a large local company in Jeddah. The company refused to pay for his treatment and fired him. “I was a very active and efficient worker there. When the company learnt of my psychological illness, which was very mild and limited in the beginning, they gave me the sack,” complained Al-Hibshi. He now claims that his health has deteriorated further because of his unemployment. He said the company's excuse for firing him was that his position was redundant. He has been without a job for about 10 months and receives a compensation payment of SR1,725 from the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI). GOSI is a semi-government body that implements social insurance laws and a special scheme for citizens. The scheme covers workers in the private sector and a group of workers in the public sector. “It also provides the contributors and their families with a decent life after leaving work due to retirement, disability or death; medical care for contributors afflicted with work injuries or occupational diseases; and necessary compensation in the event of occupational disability or death.” Al-Hibshi said he was told he did not qualify for 50 percent of his salary, which is required under labor law if a person is laid off from work because of a disability. The company claimed he did not qualify for this benefit from GOSI because he did not apply while he had a job. Saeed Al-Murri had a similar story. He was a manager at a very well-known construction company. The company ended his contract saying that they did not need him anymore. However, Saeed claimed that when the company learnt he was seeing a psychiatrist they decided to release him. “If I was a normal patient at a government entity and had a non-vocational disability I would get 40 to 50 percent of my last salary as compensation. It appears that labor regulations do not include psychological patients,” said Al-Murri. In a telephonic interview, Qusai Felali, the head of the Labor Office, said that the problem with such patients is that there is often difficulty in diagnosing their illnesses, compared to physical illnesses or disabilities. “For example, any doctor can identify a broken arm very easily, so suitable compensation or sick leave can be accurately identified,” said Felali. A further problem is that there is currently a lack of labor regulations on the issue. There is also little knowledge or awareness of psychological or mental illnesses in Saudi society, he added. In addition, there is a lack of qualified specialists and medical experts. Dr. Suhail Abdul Hamid Khan, medical manager at the Mental Diseases Hospital in Jeddah, said employees who have mental illnesses should not be fired. “Psychological diseases are as curable as any disease and we should not consider those people as different or incapable of work,” he explained. “A company's management should think twice before taking an unfair decision of dismissing mental patients. Some emotional and psychological sicknesses may be more curable at the beginning than other biological and physical diseases,” advised Khan. Dr. Suzan Mashhadi, a social specialist at Al-Amal Hospital, said the lack of knowledge about psychological diseases have contributed to many ignoring these patients. “Many people think that chemical medications for some psychological diseases may cause addiction. This is not true at all,” said Al-Mashhadi. The medication required at the first stage of a psychological disease, along with some treatment sessions, may help to eliminate the disease, she said.
