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Employment practice living wage.
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Employment practice living wage.
Governing Financial & HR Regulations
Ensures fairness, transparency, and defined pay scales: The University's adherence to the Financial Rights and Benefits Regulations, Human Resources Executive Regulations, and the Code of Conduct and Ethics guarantees compensation standards are non-arbitrary and legally enforceable. It also includes compliance with the Educational Jobs Regulations for academic staff.
Employee Financial Security & Logistics
Mitigates major family costs: The system provides explicit support through the Sick Leave Reports (guaranteeing pay continuity), the inclusion of the Annual Bonus as part of the salary, the Non-Renewal Notice Form (for job security planning), and the formal request for Reimbursement of 50% of travel tickets for contractors (reducing expatriate family travel costs).
Academic and Research Incentives
Provides substantial supplementary income for high-skilled staff:
The university offers financial rewards for Principal Investigators (up to SR 14,400), Co-researchers (up to SR 12,000), and a maximum annual reward of SR 50,000 for high-impact publications, which drastically raises the annual effective wage for faculty.
Welfare and Facilities Support
Reduces the largest expense (housing): The university lists Housing and Recreation as an available service on campus, indicating a formal mechanism to support employee living arrangements, a critical factor for family living wage calculation
Qassim University's Legal Floor: Adherence to the Saudi National Minimum Wage
As a public institution in Saudi Arabia, Qassim University (QU) is mandated to adhere strictly to the nation's labor laws, ensuring that all Saudi employees, whether administrative or academic, are compensated at or above the National Minimum Wage of SR 4,000 per month. This legally enforced floor for compensation provides a critical measure of financial stability and is a foundational element in QU's compliance with living wage standards. Crucially, the combination of this guaranteed base salary, coupled with the generous, tax-free allowances and comprehensive benefits stipulated under the Saudi Civil Service framework, means the total compensation package for QU staff significantly exceeds this legal minimum, ensuring a living standard well above historical household poverty benchmarks in the Kingdom.
Qassim University: Total Compensation and Living Wage Compliance
Qassim University (QU) ensures its salaries are competitive enough to meet the local cost of living and confer financial stability, as evidenced by three key factors: first, the total compensation package is designed to effectively meet or surpass the estimated local living wage proxy of SR 7,000/month required for an affordable family of four in the region; second, the salaries provided to QU employees place them securely above the SR 4,500/month minimum credit threshold used by Saudi financial institutions, confirming that banks recognize QU employees as financially stable and reliable borrowers; and third, the tax-free nature of all salaries paid by the university directly maximizes the disposable income of every employee, ensuring that the entire monetary value of their compensation can be dedicated to covering family living costs.
Qassim University: Compensation vs. Core Living Costs
Qassim University's (QU) compensation packages are strategically structured to accommodate the primary financial pressures faced by employees and their families in Saudi Arabia.
While the salaries must be high enough to cover significant recurring expenses, such as the high costs of Family Rent (which typically ranges from SR 3,000–5,000 per month) and essential Family Groceries (estimated at SR 2,000–3,000 per month), the overall burden is significantly mitigated by the national economic structure. Specifically, employees at QU benefit directly from government subsidies that keep essential Utilities Costs remarkably low, generally estimated at only SR 300–600 per month, ensuring that a greater portion of their university salary and allowances remains available for housing and other necessities.
Qassim University: Expat Dependent Levy Mitigation
Qassim University (QU), when compensating its non-Saudi employees, must explicitly account for the mandatory financial burden imposed by the Expat Dependent Levy. This government-imposed fee, currently set at SR 400 per dependent per month, is a direct monthly deduction that immediately reduces a non-Saudi employee's disposable living wage. Therefore, the compensation packages offered by Qassim University to its expatriate staff—including the base salary and various allowances—must be robust enough to effectively cover this levy in addition to all other living costs, ensuring the family still retains sufficient residual income to meet the required living wage standard.
Qassim University: Lifetime Financial Security via GOSI
Qassim University (QU) guarantees the long-term financial security and continuity of a living wage for all its Saudi employees and their families through mandatory enrollment in the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI). This essential coverage ensures that, even after the active employment period ends, QU staff members are protected by GOSI's Annuity and Retirement Regulations. Crucially, this post-employment security is extended to the family unit through specific benefit increases for dependents (up to 20%) applied upon the employee's retirement or in the event of disability, thus guaranteeing that the family's living standard is maintained well beyond their years of service at Qassim University.
Qassim University: Formal Housing Support and Rent Mitigation
Qassim University (QU) actively mitigates the largest single expense for its staff, family rent, which typically costs 3,000–5,000 per month in the private market, through a dedicated, formal support mechanism. The existence of the General Administration of Facilities and Housing, which is organizationally accountable to the Vice Presidency for Financial and Technical Affairs, confirms that QU has a concrete, institutional structure in place for the provision or substantial support of employee housing. This direct support drastically reduces or entirely removes the family's greatest financial burden, thereby increasing the effective purchasing power of the employee's salary and significantly ensuring compliance with the local living wage standard.
Qassim University: Assured Financial and Logistical Continuity
Qassim University (QU) ensures continuous financial stability and reduces key logistical burdens for its staff through formal HR processes.
The university guarantees financial continuity by processing Sick Leave Reports, ensuring that employees continue to receive their pay during illness.
Furthermore, it supports long-term planning and job security by managing Non-Renewal Notice Forms to give staff ample time to prepare for contract conclusion. Finally, QU directly reduces a major annual expense for its expatriate contractors by providing a Request form for reimbursement of 50\% of travel tickets for round-trip travel, thereby strengthening the effective value of the overall compensation package.
Qassim University: Research Incentives Boost Faculty Wages
Qassim University (QU) ensures that the total annual earnings for its high-skilled academic staff significantly surpass standard salary levels by offering substantial research incentives. Through its Deanship of Scientific Research, QU provides faculty with generous financial rewards that function as a powerful supplement to their base wages, directly impacting the living wage calculation. For instance, academic staff can earn up to SR 14,400 as Principal Investigators and up to SR 12,000 as Co-researchers on supported projects. Furthermore, the university offers a maximum annual reward of SR 50,000 for high-impact publications, drastically raising the effective annual wage and confirming QU's commitment to competitive compensation for its top talent.