The Ministry of Social Affairs, in collaboration with the Public Authority for Manpower, has coordinated efforts to introduce significant amendments aimed at streamlining the process of hiring national workers in cooperative societies.
According to a report from the “Kuwaitization of Cooperative Societies Project,” of which Al-Qabas has obtained a copy, four procedures have been agreed upon to simplify the appointment of citizens within cooperatives and facilitate transfers between societies.
The report highlights several prominent amendments, including the provision of support for retirees by appointing them as advisors in cooperatives while prohibiting their assignment to supervisory roles.
Under the “Kuwaitization of Cooperatives” initiative, various other amendments have been put forward. These include the adoption and dissemination of a standardized organizational structure with modern designations, the establishment of a committee to assess the actual job requirements for all positions within associations, and the specification of minimum salaries for supervisory roles through the modification of Article 55 of the cooperative societies’ model statute. Additionally, a committee comprised of the Ministry of Affairs, the Federation of Cooperatives, and the Manpower Authority is set to oversee appointments in cooperative society positions.
The project mandates the separation of supervisory position salaries from the percentage of wages within each association, reducing the percentage to 6%. Moreover, salary caps for supervisory positions have been introduced, starting at 500 dinars, along with labor support bonuses for regular employees which increase to 1,000 dinars for department heads and 1,500 dinars for deputy general managers. For general managers, the bonus reaches 2,000 dinars. Furthermore, annual salary increases for employees have been set at 20 dinars, increasing by an additional 10 dinars for each step up the supervisory ladder, culminating at 50 dinars for general managers.
The overarching objective of the project is to employ citizens in 3,010 positions across different categories: 2,100 regular employees, 700 department heads, 140 deputy general managers, and 70 general managers. This move would bring the total count of Kuwaiti citizens in the cooperative sector to 4,539, encompassing both males and females who meet the eligibility criteria.
The report highlights that the current count of Kuwaitis employed in cooperatives stands at 2,533, with 1,562 registered under the insurance system and 971 not registered, constituting 14.6% of the total.
Furthermore, the report notes that there are 1,025 illegal residents (bedoun) working in cooperatives, alongside 16,266 exptriates. Among these workers, 56.5% are Egyptians, followed by 9% Indians, and 3.4% GCC citizens. Other nationalities are distributed across 4,459 positions.
Jamal Al-Fadhli, the head of the Union of Workers in the Cooperative Sector, revealed that there are a total of 300 male and female citizens who have applied for supervisory and leadership positions in cooperatives. Al-Fadhli emphasized the need for timely processing of appointment files for these applicants, urging the relevant authorities in both the “manpower” and “affairs” sectors to expedite the process.
He also stressed the importance of transparency and compliance with legal guidelines during job interviews and application procedures.
He pointed out that PAM has not yet announced the jobs of other cooperative societies, despite the latter obtaining the approval of the Social Affairs Ministry to publish the advertisement for its job vacancies.
He added, “Any technical problems facing the authority must be announced with regard to applying for jobs, or other technical issues related to completing the appointment procedures, and that there should be no legal violations in job interviews.”
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