The institution is aware of the strategic importance of the enabling environment required to support the extension of social security coverage to difficult-to-cover groups. It identifies the elements that it could leverage and the gaps/weaknesses in coverage that should be mitigated.

The institution establishes calculation bases and contribution rates that are transparent and adapted to the needs of difficult-to-cover people.

All information communicated is accurate, clear, verifiable, relevant, timely and up-to-date. Personal information is protected and only used for the purpose for which it was collected.

Social security institutions are custodians of large quantities of personal information that must be strictly protected.

The institution commits itself to open and inclusive use of language in communication.

Contribution collection and compliance systems comprise different activities. Some concern matters of institutional organization, policy and strategy, while others focus on contribution collection operations and compliance enforcement. In turn, the involved actors consist mainly of the institutions responsible for collecting social security contributions and of different categories of contributors.

The institution implements the key processes of identifying its debtors and carrying out the procedures to obtain the corresponding payment.

These processes play a fundamental role in promoting compliance by contributors and obtaining the payments necessary to the system’s sustainability. Efficient identification and settlement of debts also adds to the credibility of the collecting agent and helps to build the culture of social security.

The ISSA Guidelines for Social Security Administration were prepared by the ISSA General Secretariat with the ISSA technical commissions.

The ISSA Guidelines on Contribution Collection and Compliance were produced under the auspices of the ISSA Working Group on Contribution Collection and Compliance. The Guidelines were prepared by a team at the ISSA General Secretariat led by Raúl Ruggia Frick with the involvement of Octavio Jiménez Durán. Expert support and contributions were provided by Louis Enoff and Ian McDonald.

The board ensures that the risks faced by the social security institution are properly identified and managed or averted. These risks may arise in various forms, including but not limited to strategic, operational, political, economic, regulatory, geographic and demographic risks.

There is enough flexibility within the legal framework to allow the institution to introduce innovations and improvements in the administration and implementation of the social security programme, without having to amend the legislation, policy or decree establishing it.

Open dissemination of key information about the social security institution does not necessarily imply transparency. To be transparent, such information, which is a basic right for stakeholders, members and beneficiaries of the social security scheme, should be timely, reliable, relevant, accurate and objectively verifiable.

The board and management articulate a strategic plan which spells out the key strategies and plans of action that will be implemented in order to perform the legislated mandate of the institution. A strategic plan usually spans a period of from three to five years, is periodically reviewed and fine-tuned, and is further detailed and rendered precise by annual plans.

Depending upon the legislation, policy or decree that establishes the social security programme, the board and management of a social security institution may be duty bound to maintain an adequate level of funding to deliver the promised benefits to members and beneficiaries of the scheme, and to ensure the cost effectiveness of the administration of the social security programme.

There are many areas to be addressed in enforcing the prudent person principle in the investment of social security funds. These guidelines are addressed specifically to institutions that have representation on the boards of companies where they have significant asset holdings.

Performance appraisal is embedded in the institution. The objectives of individual staff members are clearly aligned with the strategic objectives of the institution.

ICT governance can be defined as a “framework for the leadership, organizational structures and business processes, standards and compliance to these standards, which ensure that the organization’s IT supports and enables the achievement of its strategies and objectives”.

The institution implements ICT operations management activities, which perform the daily operational activities needed to manage ICT services and the supporting ICT infrastructure following systematic and standard practices.

The institution defines technical standards for interoperability technologies to foster the consistency and compatibility of ICT systems.

The ICT operations of master data systems comprise the system administration activities that enable the use of the master data in the institution.

Given the critical nature of the master data system, the corresponding ICT operations have to ensure the service quality levels (e.g. availability, performance, etc.) required to carry out the social security operations using these data. Such quality levels are established in a service-level agreement (SLA).

The specific guideline in this section is:

The institution, in coordination with the other participants in the agreement, establishes an authentication framework to provide legally valid, efficient and secure means for the transactions carried out in the social security agreement.

This framework replaces that based on handwritten signatures used in paper-based transactions and provides the means to validate the authenticity of the electronically exchanged data.

The following guidelines are organized in four parts:

Part A, Investment Governance Principles

Part B, Investment Governance Structures

Part C, Common Processes

Part D, Processes Specific to Internal and External Investment Management

It may be possible to take advantage of asset market movements and changes in the value of the investing institution’s portfolio to implement a dynamic de-risking or re-risking strategy. The board, management and investment committee consider on a regular basis rebalancing the portfolio so that it is in line with the investing institution’s strategic asset allocation objectives.

Where appropriate and permitted by the board, the investing institution may take a direct equity or ownership stake in a publicly quoted, private or state-owned enterprise.

Such an investment may confer voting rights and permit the institution to influence directly certain activities of the organization in which it has taken part or, when there is full ownership, include representation on the board of a company or organization.

The institution conducts a thorough analysis of the national legal framework, including safety and health regulations, in order to identify its role in prevention and develop prevention activities in line with current legislation. If no legal mandate to carry out prevention services exists, the institution initiates a process to provide an adequate legal prevention framework. The same is valid for the recognition of occupational diseases.

The institution’s prevention experts are in direct exchange with employers and safety representatives to enable the transfer of prevention knowledge and facilitate the implementation of prevention measures at the operational level.