The ISSA Guidelines on Administrative Solutions for Coverage Extension aim at strengthening the capacities of social security administrations to deliver effective contributory programmes and to work towards the extension of coverage to groups that are typically difficult to cover.

The challenge of extending full access to social security coverage to all those who have a right to it is an issue across all branches of social security, and permeates all institutions to various degrees. These guidelines identify administrative solutions to improve access to contributory social security programmes for populations that are difficult to cover; the so-called hard to reach.

The Guidelines on Actuarial Work for Social Security have been produced jointly by the International Labour Office (ILO) and the International Social Security Association (ISSA). They were written by Assia Billig and Jean-Claude Ménard from the Office of the Chief Actuary – Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, Canada, Simon Brimblecombe from the ISSA General Secretariat, and Hiroshi Yamabana, André Picard, Cristina Lloret and Anne Drouin from the ILO.

An actuary and/or other social security professional performing actuarial work for a social security institution develops and maintains the high level of professional expertise necessary to perform required actuarial work. In the case of using internal resources to perform actuarial work, the social security institution ensures that actuaries and/or other social security professionals are provided with sufficient opportunities to maintain technical knowledge, professional expertise and appropriate behaviour including the managing of potential conflicts of interest.

In the case where internal resources are used to perform actuarial work, the social security institution maintains adequate staffing levels and provides the actuarial department with the necessary resources to ensure that tasks can be carried out effectively.

This guideline should be read in conjunction with Guidelines 49 and 51.

Actuaries and other social security professionals providing actuarial services for social security schemes possess appropriate qualifications and expertise necessary to fulfil their responsibilities. A qualified actuary is a member of a national (or international) professional actuarial association (or working toward fulfilling requirements to become a member) and follows applicable professional standards, rules of professional conduct and continuing professional development requirements.

The social security institution decides whether internal or external expertise is to be used to carry out the actuarial work related to social security schemes. The social security institution seeks to develop the internal actuarial expertise to perform actuarial work for a social security scheme.

The social security institution and supervising authorities take measures which seek to ensure and maintain the independence of the actuary.

The social security institution should ensure that the skills and experience requirements of internal and external actuaries undertaking work for the organisation are well defined, adequate and monitored. The institution should support the efforts of actuaries in obtaining relevant qualifications and undertake training and continuing professional development activities as set out by national or international professional bodies.

Actuarial involvement is required when both parametric and structural changes to the social security scheme are considered.