Saudi woman discovers she's still employed, 14 years after she quit

Imagine that over a decade after you quit a job, you suddenly discover you're still registered as an employee with someone cashing in on your salary for years. 

This isn't the premise of an identity theft thriller, but a news story that puzzled thousands on Saudi Twitter earlier this week. 

In its details, Manal Al Hazemi, a Saudi teacher who quit her job at a government-owned school 14 years ago, discovered she was unable to get a job for years afterward because she was still registered as employed. 

Speaking to Okaz newspaper, Al Hazemi's husband shared details of the bizarre case saying that it caused the family to suffer for over 12 years.

In his statement to the local publication, the man said that after completing her master's degree just a few months after she quit, his wife got rejected from several jobs but never knew why. 

"Her application just didn't go through the system time and again, we had no idea why. Our suffering went on for 12 years even though we tried to solve the issue at several governmental institutions," he said. 

"Three years ago, I decided to follow up on the matter once again. This time I went to the Saudi Organization for Social Insurance and it was there that I discovered my wife was still registered as an employee and being paid a salary," he added. 

Shocked by the finding, the man then went to Mecca's School Authority who couldn't find any documents related to his wife in their archive system. 

"It turned out she was only still registered with the kingdom's social insurance authority," he explained. 

Once it became clear the matter could have involved identity theft, authorities sent out a note to the Ministry of Education, who then issued an order to suspend the salary being paid to the unknown person. 

Now both Al Hazemi and her husband are calling on officials to investigate the case and reimburse them for all that they lost over the years. 

"The corruption of the Ministry of Education continues and no one is questioning it." 

"Who was getting all her salaries?"

"This is completely illogical. Who signed the paychecks? How did her salary go down in her account for 14 years without her even knowing? Is it possible that she was never promoted throughout that period of time? How did no one notice that she wasn't coming in to work? Respect our intelligence." 

"You think that's it, there are so many worse cases too." 

"We ask that she is paid her salary for the past 14 years and that anyone involved in this is held accountable." 

This isn't the first time a similar case is reported in the kingdom.

Earlier last year, the case of Amal Al Ghamdi, a Saudi housewife who was unknowingly registered as a government employee for 17 years, caused quite the stir online. 

The woman's story unraveled when she applied for aid from the kingdom's Citizen Accounts Committee (Hisab Al Mowaten) which provides financial benefits for unemployed citizens.

The Committee informed Al Ghamdi and her husband that she was employed and receiving a salary for years even though she had never held a job. 

At the time, the woman and her husband said they believed the case involved identity theft and called on authorities to investigate the matter.