The communication unit and the functions it performs are essential to effective communication services.

The specific guidelines in this section are:

The institution uses communication as a strategic tool to develop a social security culture based on rights and responsibilities.

The backbone of the contribution collection and compliance system is based on certain operational processes for carrying out the key functions of contributor registration, collection of declarations, contribution calculation and billing, collection of payment and debt management. Providing online services to contributors is another key feature in the implementation of contribution collection and compliance systems.

The institution implements specific information dissemination campaigns to generate awareness of programme changes and specific information about members’ responsibilities.

The aim of such campaigns is to foster a sense of responsibility in every stakeholder about the contribution process.

Legislation, policy or decree provides for the board’s independence from political interference to implement its mandate by prescribing the selection process and by defining the grounds for removal from office solely for just cause.

Members and beneficiaries are regularly and periodically informed of their rights and privileges, as mandated by the legislation, policy or decree that establishes the social security programme.

The management ensures that it identifies the risks that the institution faces, proposes policies and measures to manage or avert these, and implements those that are approved by the board. These risks may arise in various forms, including but not limited to strategic, operational, political, economic, regulatory, geographic and demographic risks.

Suggestions to improve the institution’s services to its stakeholders are properly evaluated and, if they have merit, are submitted to the board for information or approval, before implementation by the management.

Internal audit is the central unit that undertakes independent and objective reviews of all areas of operation of the institution, and verifies and certifies compliance with all pertinent laws, rules and regulations. The scope of its work is comprehensive. By undertaking independent and objective reviews of policies, operations, systems and procedures, internal controls, risk management, information management, ICT systems and governance processes, it promotes a disciplined approach to the overall management of the institution.

The board and/or management ensure the professional safekeeping of the investment assets of the institution.

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.

There are manifold reasons for a social security institution to carry out personal consulting activities among its member enterprises. Regular site visits are commonly based on defined frequency rates, which often depend on the specific risk category of the enterprise. Other important causes include the investigation of occupational accidents or a work history of exposures leading to occupational diseases.

The promotion of a prevention culture should be a declared goal of a social security institution. This requires all stakeholders in occupational safety and health, but also in areas related to it, to jointly formulate their prevention targets and contribute to sustainably improving safety and health throughout society and in all aspects of life. Building a prevention culture is the “responsibility of the society as a whole” as stated in the Seoul Declaration.

The institution works in partnership with other institutions active in the employment, education and training sectors.