The Wages Protection System (WPS) is signified by a monthly file received by banks across Saudi Arabia crediting employees. The establishment in which these employees work sends the Wages File to its associated bank, which verifies the amounts and credits them on time at every month’s end. Multiple technical teams from various involved parties work on this file in a routine mechanism, ensuring the fair pay of every employee, whose GOSI (General Organization for Social Insurance) registration is a crucial part. The involved parties are SAMA (Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority), the bank, the Ministry of Labor, and the establishment. 

Establishments prepare the Wages File in compliance with the Ministry of Labor’s standards and send it as an input file to the bank, which in return processes payments, adds transaction references, dates, and necessary codes, and sends it back to the establishment as an output Wages File. The establishment digitally forwards the bank-processed file to WPS, which identifies compliance or errors and reacts accordingly. 

The Wages Protection Systems across the GCC region have been implemented for years. In the Kingdom, the system is administered by GOSI, which performs follow-ups and evaluations regularly, on which the organization bases actions and consequences. Incompliance leads to penalties and suspensions. WPS is one of 66 Saudi digital services, according to Saudi Digitalization 2020 report. The program’s digitalized process makes the protection of wages easy for all parties involved. According to the Digitalization report, GOSI ranks second among all Governmental entities in the Kingdom, indicating the importance of social insurance and its role in the Saudi workforce. 

The Wages Protection System is not exclusive to the Kingdom; it is a widespread concept in the GCC countries, with UAE, Kuwait, and Oman implementing similar systems as part of moving towards a better workforce experience. The UAE launched its Wages Protection System in 2009, aiming to save the time and effort invested in payroll, solidify trust and collect data. The entirety of the Human Resources approach has taken a significant turn during times of Emiratization and Saudization, accompanied by a revolutionary switch to digital services, shared services, and outsourcing. Enterprises now can subscribe to services that make these processes easier with the help of experts in the GCC local markets.