When official data reveals that there are 35,000 active sole proprietorships holding valid professional licenses but not covered by the Social Security Law, we are facing a significant gap in the social protection system that requires a coordinated national response.
اضافة اعلان
To understand the scale of this gap, the Social Security Corporation announced in July 2026 that more than 90,000 establishments were covered by the law, while it was preparing to notify another 35,000 active sole proprietorships holding valid professional licenses that had not yet been covered.
This comparison highlights the size of the segment outside the insurance umbrella, without necessarily meaning that all of the targeted establishments employ unregistered workers or are evading social security contributions.
It would be neither legally nor professionally correct to consider all 35,000 establishments to be social security evaders.
Some may be businesses operated solely by their owners, while others may fall under existing exemptions.
However, the existence of an active business holding a professional license and conducting economic activity without its owner or any of its workers being registered is a strong indicator that warrants verification rather than neglect.
Social security evasion is a deduction from a worker’s future and rights. An employee who is not covered does not merely lose months of contributions; they also remain outside protections related to old age, disability, death, work injuries, unemployment and maternity.
They may work for many years before discovering that their social security record does not accurately reflect their actual years of service.
The damage does not affect workers alone. A compliant business that registers its employees based on their actual wages bears legal and financial costs, while a non-compliant business gains an unfair saving by denying its workers their rights.
In this way, non-compliance distorts competition, penalizes compliant businesses and gives violators an advantage that is unrelated to productivity or efficiency.
Addressing this gap has become even more important as the number of active Social Security subscribers exceeded 1.655 million in April 2026.
While this figure reflects the expansion of the system, it does not eliminate the existence of workers and economic activities that remain outside its coverage, particularly among small and sole proprietorships that are difficult to reach through traditional inspection alone.
The Corporation’s decision to notify the targeted establishments and give them 15 days to regularize their status represents a practical step, provided that it is accompanied by clear procedures distinguishing actual violations from exempt cases.
The objective should not be to impose blanket coverage decisions based on assumptions, but rather to verify the circumstances of each establishment while ensuring its right to object and provide documents proving its status.
At the same time, the correction period should not become another opportunity for delay.
The law imposes a penalty of 30 percent of the contributions due when workers are not covered or when contributions are not paid based on their actual wages, in addition to late-payment penalties.
Such sanctions are necessary, but true deterrence begins with the ability to detect violations before they accumulate over years.
The most effective solution is to establish digital oversight that connects Social Security data with professional licenses, the commercial registry, tax records and work permits.
The state already possesses the necessary information, but keeping it fragmented across different institutions allows gaps to persist.
Expanding coverage is not a campaign to collect money; it is about protecting workers, ensuring fairness for compliant businesses and strengthening the sustainability of the Social Security system.
Addressing the issue of the 35,000 establishments should be the beginning of a permanent oversight system, rather than a temporary measure that ends when the campaign does.
