The institution communicates the results of research and development to the general public and to the operational level of member enterprises to facilitate up-to-date prevention activities.

These guidelines focus on individuals who have lost or are in danger of losing their jobs as a result of economic factors, the evolution of technological processes, the relocation of production units or any other cause except illness or injury. The latter is covered in the ISSA Guidelines on Return to Work and Reintegration. These guidelines are also directed at young jobseekers who do not find work immediately after the completion of their studies.

Workers at risk of losing their jobs should be identified and provided with adequate support in order to avoid or reduce these risks.

The competent institutions encourage the reintegration of jobseekers through the correct use of both the incentive and disincentive provisions of unemployment benefit programmes.

Promotion and support of an effective return-to-work programme involves a broad range of individual and institutional stakeholders.

This usually includes but is not limited to the injured, ill or disabled person and their family, employer and employee representatives (social partners), colleagues, health-care professionals, community services, interfacing agencies, government departments, and other individually and jurisdictionally specific stakeholders.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. An individualized approach to the return to work addresses psychosocial issues related to factors such as motivation, working conditions and personal circumstances.

Those responsible for providing return-to-work services – whether within the institution or in partner and stakeholder organizations – have the requisite knowledge and skills to conform to internationally recognized levels of competence.

These guidelines assist social security institutions to:

The social security institution develops its workplace health promotion activities based on a legal and financial mandate.

The social security institution ensures that the workplace health promotion programme focuses on the health needs of the target population and national health priorities.

The institution recognizes the importance of health promotion campaigns in adding value to workplace health promotion practice.

These ISSA-ILO Actuarial Guidelines include the principles that social security institutions should consider in relation to actuarial work undertaken for social security schemes. They are not intended either as a detailed actuarial manual or as standards of practice. Their goal is to guide social security institutions in the “what” to consider but not the question of “how”.

Actuarial factors are determined in accordance with generally accepted actuarial principles. There is no unjustified or unfair discrimination in the calculation of factors.

This guideline refers to the calculation of factors used to determine benefit entitlements in defined benefit schemes. These factors include but are not limited to early and late retirement factors, conversion rates of lump sum to periodical payments and vice versa as well as the determination of total and partial disability benefits and other social security benefits.

The social security institution communicates actuarial information in a way that is appropriate for the intended audience.

It is often difficult to communicate technical information to different stakeholders. These stakeholders include board members, parliamentarians and plan participants who will have different levels of skills, experience and expertise. The social security institution, with the assistance of actuaries, should work at preparing communications that address the needs of both technical and general audiences.

At the inception of a scheme the social security institution carries out an actuarial valuation in order to address the level of protection that can be provided with a given level of financial resources and what financial resources are necessary to provide a given level of protection. The social security institution considers the factors affecting the analysis that are identified through the actuarial assessment of a new social security system.

Through measures that ensure the necessary legal framework, social security institutions are encouraged to take a proactive role in extending coverage.

The specific guidelines in this section are:

• Assessing the enabling environment
• Securing the required authority for coverage extension

Compliance regarding the payment of contributions is important for all types of contributory schemes, including voluntary and subsidized ones, as it provides the evidence of eligibility and ensures the financing for the accrued benefits.

The specific guidelines in this section are:

The communication framework, strategies and plans emanate from the mandate, mission and vision of the institution. Communication reinforces the institution’s abiding commitment to its mission, vision and values.

The communication unit develops a unique corporate design for the institution derived from the institution’s mission and vision. All communication materials and activities of the institution use the corporate design as a branding tool.

These guidelines are intended to cover all the key components of a contribution collection and compliance system. Some are necessarily general, such as those covering the mission, strategy, communication, etc., and could be applied to other social security contexts. But others are quite specific to contribution collection and compliance:

The institution implements the key processes of collecting contributions and transferring corresponding amounts to the fund or social programme administration.

These processes play a fundamental role in the sustainability of the social programmes because they enable the transfer of the financial resources they are intended to receive.

The institution designs and implements permanent evaluation mechanisms for the contribution collection and compliance system.

Permanent and systematic evaluation should be based on performance indicators and service quality evaluation involving the main stakeholders and the public. Using a standard model increases the institution’s ability to compare its performance against institutions in other countries with similar contribution collection schemes.

There is a board-approved strategic plan that lays down and spells out the key strategies and plans of action to be implemented by the management in order to realize and perform the legislated mandate of the institution.

Dynamism is the governance element of innovation or positive change, the effect of which is to henceforth improve the efficiency of an organization.

Governance may well be in accordance with the principles of accountability, transparency, participation and predictability. The principle of dynamism improves on the status quo and enables the institution to be more faithful to its mandate and to respond to the evolving needs of its members.

The management establishes a code of ethics and a set of standards and benchmarks for its officers and staff.