Preamble
The General Conference of the International Labour Organisation,
Having been convened at Philadelphia by the Governing Body of the International Labour
Office, and having met in its Twenty-sixth Session on 20 April 1944, and
Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard to income security,
which is included in the fourth item on the agenda of the Session, and
Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of a Recommendation,
adopts this twelfth day of May of the year one thousand nine hundred and forty-four, the
following Recommendation, which may be cited as the Income Security Recommendation,
1944:
Whereas the Atlantic Charter contemplates the fullest collaboration between all
nations in the economic field with the object of securing for all improved labour
standards, economic advancement and social security; and
Whereas the Conference of the International Labour Organisation by a resolution
adopted on 5 November 1941, endorsed this principle of the Atlantic Charter and
pledged the full co-operation of the International Labour Organisation in its
implementation; and
Whereas income security is an essential element in social security; and
Whereas the International Labour Organisation has promoted the development of income
security--
- by the adoption by the International Labour Conference of Conventions and
Recommendations relating to workmen's compensation for accidents and
occupational diseases, sickness insurance, provision for maternity, old-age,
invalidity, and widows'and orphans' pensions, and provision for
unemployment,
- by the adoption by the First and Second Labour Conferences of American States of
the resolutions constituting the Inter-American Social Insurance Code, by the
participation of a delegation of the Governing Body in the First Inter-American
Conference on Social Security which adopted the declaration of Santiago de
Chile, and by the approval by the Governing Body of the Statute of the
Inter-American Conference on Social Security established as a permanent agency
of co-operation between social security administrations and institutions acting
in concert with the International Labour Office, and
- by the participation of the International Labour Office in an advisory capacity
in the framing of social insurance schemes in a number of countries and by other
measures; and
Whereas some Members have not taken such steps as are within their competence to
promote the well-being and development of their people although their need for
improved labour standards, economic advancement and social security is greatest;
and
Whereas it is now highly desirable that such Members take all necessary steps as soon
as possible to reach the accepted international minimum standards and develop those
standards; and
Whereas it is now desirable to take further steps towards the attainment of income
security by the unification or co-ordination of social insurance schemes, the
extension of such schemes to all workers and their families, including rural
populations and the self-employed, and the elimination of inequitable anomalies;
and
Whereas the formulation of certain general principles which should be followed by
Members of the Organisation in developing their income security schemes along these
lines on the foundation of the existing Conventions and Recommendations, pending the
unification and amplification of the provisions of the said Conventions and
Recommendations, will contribute to this end;
The Conference--
- (a) recommends the Members of the Organisation to apply progressively the
following general guiding principles, as rapidly as national conditions allow,
in developing their income security schemes with a view to the implementation of
the fifth principle of the Atlantic Charter, and to report to the International
Labour Office from time to time as requested by the Governing Body, concerning
the measures taken to give effect to the said general guiding principles;
- (b) calls the attention of the Members of the Organisation to the suggestions
for the application of these general guiding principles submitted to the
Conference and contained in the Annex to this Recommendation.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
GENERAL
- 1. Income security schemes should relieve want and prevent
destitution by restoring, up to a reasonable level, income which is
lost by reason of inability to work (including old age) or to obtain
remunerative work or by reason of the death of a breadwinner.
- 2. Income security should be organised as far as possible
on the basis of compulsory social insurance, whereby insured persons
fulfilling prescribed qualifying conditions are entitled, in
consideration of the contributions they have paid to an insurance
institution, to benefits payable at rates, and in contingencies,
defined by law.
- 3. Provision for needs not covered by compulsory social
insurance should be made by social assistance; certain categories of
persons, particularly dependent children and needy invalids, aged
persons and widows, should be entitled to allowances at reasonable
rates according to a prescribed scale.
- 4. Social assistance appropriate to the needs of the case
should be provided for other persons in want.
SOCIAL INSURANCE
- 5. The range of contingencies to be covered by compulsory
social insurance should embrace all contingencies in which an
insured person is prevented from earning his living, whether by
inability to work or inability to obtain remunerative work, or in
which he dies leaving a dependent family, and should include certain
associated emergencies, generally experienced, which involved
extraordinary strain on limited incomes, in so far as they are not
otherwise covered.
- 6. Compensation should be provided in cases of incapacity
for work and of death resulting from employment.
- 7. In order that the benefits provided by social insurance
may be closely adapted to the variety of needs, the contingencies
covered should be classified as follows:
- (a) sickness;
- (b) maternity;
- (c) invalidity;
- (d) old age;
- (e) death of breadwinner;
- (f) unemployment;
- (g) emergency expenses; and
- (h) employment injuries.
Provided that benefits should not be payable at the same time
for more than one of the following contingencies: invalidity, old
age and unemployment. - 8. Supplements for each of the first two children should
be added to all benefits payable for loss of earnings, provision for
further children being left to be made by means of children's
allowances payable out of public funds or under contributory
schemes.
- 9. The contingency for which sickness benefit should be
paid is loss of earnings due to abstention from work necessitated on
medical grounds by an acute condition, due to disease or injury,
requiring medical treatment or supervision.
- 10. The contingency for which maternity benefit should be
paid is loss of earnings due to abstention from work during
prescribed periods before and after childbirth.
- 11. The contingency for which invalidity benefit should
be paid is inability to engage in any substantially gainful work by
reason of a chronic condition, due to disease or injury, or by
reason of the loss of a member or function.
- 12. The contingency for which old-age benefit should be
paid is the attainment of a prescribed age, which should be that at
which persons commonly become incapable of efficient work, the
incidence of sickness and invalidity becomes heavy, and
unemployment, if present, is likely to be permanent.
- 13. The contingency for which survivors' benefits should
be paid is the loss of support presumably suffered by the dependants
as the result of the death of the head of the family.
- 14. The contingency for which unemployment benefit should
be paid is loss of earnings due to the unemployment of an insured
person who is ordinarily employed, capable of regular employment in
some occupation, and seeking suitable employment, or due to
part-time unemployment.
- 15. Benefits should be provided in respect of
extraordinary expenses, not otherwise covered, incurred in cases of
sickness, maternity, invalidity and death.
- 16. The contingency for which compensation for an
employment injury should be paid is traumatic injury or disease
resulting from employment and not brought about deliberately or by
the serious and wilful misconduct of the victim, which results in
temporary or permanent incapacity or death.
- 17. Social insurance should afford protection, in the
contingencies to which they are exposed, to all employed and
self-employed persons, together with their dependants, in respect of
whom it is practicable--
- (a) to collect contributions without incurring
disproportionate administrative expenditure; and
- (b) to pay benefits with the necessary co-operation of
medical and employment services and with due precautions
against abuse.
- 18. The employer should be made responsible for
collecting contributions in respect of all persons employed by him,
and should be entitled to deduct the sums due by them from their
remuneration at the time when it is paid.
- 19. In order to facilitate the efficient administration
of benefits, arrangements should be made for the keeping of records
of contributions, for ready means of verifying the presence of the
contingencies which give rise to benefits, and for a parallel
organisation of medical and employment services with preventive and
remedial functions.
- 20. Persons employed for remuneration should be insured
against the whole range of contingencies covered by social insurance
as soon as the collection of contributions in respect of them can be
organised and the necessary arrangements can be made for the
administration of benefit.
- 21. Self-employed persons should be insured against the
contingencies of invalidity, old age and death, under the same
conditions as employed persons, as soon as the collection of their
contributions can be organised. Consideration should be given to the
possibility of insuring them also against sickness and maternity
necessitating hospitalisation, sickness which has lasted for several
months, and extraordinary expenses incurred in cases of sickness,
maternity, invalidity and death.
- 22. Benefits should replace lost earnings, with due
regard to family responsibilities, up to as high a level as is
practicable without impairing the will to resume work where
resumption is a possibility, and without levying charges on the
productive groups so heavy that output and employment are
checked.
- 23. Benefits should be related to the previous earnings
of the insured person on the basis of which he has contributed:
Provided that any excess of earnings over those prevalent among
skilled workers may be ignored for the purpose of determining the
rate of benefits, or portions thereof, financed from sources other
than the contributions of the insured person.
- 24. Benefits at flat rates may be appropriate for
countries where adequate and economical facilities exist for the
population to procure additional protection by voluntary insurance.
Such benefits should be commensurate with the earnings of unskilled
workers.
- 25. The right to benefits other than compensation for
employment injuries should be subject to contribution conditions
designed to prove that the normal status of the claimant is that of
an employed or self-employed person and to maintain reasonable
regularity in the payment of contributions: Provided that a person
should not be disqualified for benefits by reason of the failure of
his employer duly to collect the contributions payable in respect of
him.
- 26. The cost of benefits, including the cost of
administration, should be distributed among insured persons,
employers and taxpayers in such a way as to be equitable to insured
persons and to avoid hardship to insured persons of small means or
any disturbance to production.
- 27. The administration of social insurance should be
unified or co-ordinated within a general system of social security
services, and contributors should, through their organisations, be
represented on the bodies which determine or advise upon
administrative policy and propose legislation or frame
regulations.
SOCIAL ASSISTANCE
- 28. Society should normally co-operate with parents
through general measures of assistance designed to secure the
well-being of dependent children.
- 29. Invalids, aged persons and widows who are not
receiving social insurance benefits because they or their husbands,
as the case may be, were not compulsorily insured, and whose incomes
do not exceed a prescribed level, should be entitled to special
maintenance allowances at prescribed rates.
- 30. Appropriate allowances in cash or partly in cash and
partly in kind should be provided for all persons who are in want
and do not require internment for corrective care.
Annex
Guiding principles accompanied by suggestions for application
(The paragraphs in bold type are the general guiding principles and the
subparagraphs are the suggestions for application.)
GENERAL
- 1. Income security schemes should relieve want and
prevent destitution by restoring, up to a reasonable level,
income which is lost by reason of inability to work
(including old age) or to obtain remunerative work or by
reason of the death of a breadwinner.
- 2. Income security should be organised as far as
possible on the basis of compulsory social insurance,
whereby insured persons fulfilling prescribed qualifying
conditions are entitled, in consideration of the
contributions they have paid to an insurance institution, to
benefits payable at rates, and in contingencies, defined by
law.
- 3. Provision for needs not covered by compulsory
social insurance should be made by social assistance;
certain categories of persons, particularly dependent
children and needy invalids, aged persons and widows, should
be entitled to allowances at reasonable rates according to a
prescribed scale.
- 4. Social assistance appropriate to the needs of
the case should be provided for other persons in want.
I. SOCIAL INSURANCE
A. Contingencies covered
Range of contingencies to be covered
- 5. The range of contingencies to be covered by
compulsory social insurance should embrace all
contingencies in which an insured person is prevented
from earning his living, whether by inability to work or
inability to obtain remunerative work, or in which he
dies leaving a dependent family, and should include
certain associated emergencies, generally experienced,
which involve extraordinary strain on limited incomes,
in so far as they are not otherwise covered.
- 6. Compensation should be provided in cases of
incapacity for work and of death resulting from
employment.
- 7. In order that the benefits provided by
social insurance may be closely adapted to the variety
of needs, the contingencies covered should be classified
as follows:
- (a) sickness;
- (b) maternity;
- (c) invalidity;
- (d) old age;
- (e) death of breadwinner;
- (f) unemployment;
- (g) emergency expenses; and
- (h) employment injuries. Provided that benefits
should not be payable at the same time for more
than one of the following contingencies:
invalidity, old age and unemployment.
- 8. Supplements for each of the first two
children should be added to all benefits payable for
loss of earnings, provision for further children being
left to be made by means of children's allowances
payable out of public funds or under contributory
schemes.
Sickness
- 9. The contingency for which sickness benefit should
be paid is loss of earnings due to abstention from work
necessitated on medical grounds by an acute condition,
due to disease or injury, requiring medical treatment or
supervision.
- (1) The necessity for abstention from work should be
judged, as a rule, with reference to the previous
occupation of the insured person, which he may be
expected to resume.
- (2) Benefit need not be paid for the first few days
of a period of sickness, but if sickness recurs
within a few months, a fresh waiting period should
not be imposed.
- (3) Benefit should preferably be continued until the
beneficiary is fit to return to work, dies or
becomes an invalid. If, however, it is considered
necessary to limit the duration of benefit, the
maximum period should not be less than 26 weeks for
a single case, and provision should be made for
extending the duration of benefit in the case of
specified diseases, such as tuberculosis, which
often involve lengthy, though curable, sickness:
Provided that at the outset of the operation of an
insurance scheme it may be necessary to provide for
a shorter period than 26 weeks.
Maternity
- 10. The contingency for which maternity benefit
should be paid is loss of earnings due to abstention
from work during prescribed periods before and after
childbirth.
- (1) A woman should have the right to leave her work
if she produces a medical certificate stating that
her confinement will probably take place within six
weeks, and no woman should be permitted to work
during the six weeks following her confinement.
- (2) During these periods maternity benefit should be
payable.
- (3) Absence from work for longer periods or on other
occasions may be desirable on medical grounds,
having regard to the physical condition of the
beneficiary and the exigencies of her work; during
any such periods sickness benefits should be
payable.
- (4) The payment of maternity benefit may be made
conditional on the utilisation by the beneficiary of
health services provided for her and her child.
Invalidity
- 11. The contingency for which invalidity benefit
should be paid is inability to engage in any
substantially gainful work by reason of a chronic
condition, due to disease or injury, or by reason of the
loss of a member or function.
- (1) A handicapped person should be expected to
engage in any occupation which may reasonably be
indicated for him, having regard to his remaining
strength and ability, his previous experience, and
any facilities for training available to him.
- (2) A person for whom such an occupation can be
indicated but is not yet available, and a person
following a training course, should receive
provisional invalidity benefit, training benefit or
unemployment benefit, if he is otherwise qualified
for it.
- (3) A person for whom no such occupation can be
indicated should receive invalidity benefit.
- (4) Beneficiaries whose permanent inability to
engage regularly in any gainful occupation has been
confirmed should be allowed to supplement their
invalidity benefit by casual earnings of small
amount.
- (5) Where the rate of invalidity benefit is related
to the rate of the previous earnings of the insured
person, the right to benefit should be admitted if
the handicapped person is not able to earn by
ordinary effort as much as one-third of the normal
earnings in his previous occupation of able-bodied
persons having the same training.
- (6) Invalidity benefit should be paid, from the date
when sickness benefit ceases, for the whole duration
of invalidity, provided that when the beneficiary
reaches the age at which old-age benefit may be
claimed the latter may be substituted for invalidity
benefit.
Old Age
- 12. The contingency for which old-age benefit should
be paid is the attainment of a prescribed age, which
should be that at which persons commonly become
incapable of efficient work, the incidence of sickness
and invalidity becomes heavy, and unemployment, if
present, is likely to be permanent.
- (1) The minimum age at which old-age benefit may be
claimed should be fixed at not more than sixty-five
in the case of men and sixty in the case of women:
Provided that a lower age may be fixed for persons
who have worked for many years in arduous or
unhealthy occupations.
- (2) Payment of old-age benefit may, if the basic
benefit can be considered sufficient for
subsistence, be made conditional on retirement from
regular work in any gainful occupation; where such
retirement is required, the receipt of casual
earnings of relatively small amount should not
disqualify for old-age benefit.
Death of Breadwinner
- 13. The contingency for which survivors' benefits
should be paid is the loss of support presumably
suffered by the dependants as the result of the death of
the head of the family.
- (1) Survivors' benefits should be paid: (a) to the
widow of an insured man; (b) for the children,
stepchildren, adopted children and, subject to their
previous registration as dependants, illegitimate
children of an insured man or of an insured woman
who supported the children; and (c) under conditions
to be defined by national laws, to an unmarried
woman with whom the deceased cohabited.
- (2) Widow's benefit should be paid to a widow who
has in her care a child for whom child's benefit is
payable or who, at her husband's death or later, is
an invalid or has attained the minimum age at which
old-age benefit may be claimed; a widow who does not
fulfil one of these conditions should be paid
widow's benefit for a minimum period of several
months, and thereafter if she is unemployed until
suitable employment can be offered to her, after
training if necessary.
- (3) Child's benefit should be paid for a child who
is under the school-leaving age, or who is under the
age of eighteen and is continuing his general or
vocational education.
Unemployment
- 14. The contingency for which unemployment benefit
should be paid is loss of earnings due to the
unemployment of an insured person who is ordinarily
employed, capable of regular employment in some
occupation, and seeking suitable employment, or due to
part-time unemployment.
- (1) Benefit need not be paid for the first few days
of a period of unemployment reckoned from the date
on which the claim is registered, but if
unemployment recurs within a few months, a fresh
waiting period should not be imposed.
- (2) Benefit should continue to be paid until
suitable employment is offered to the insured
person.
- (3) During an initial period reasonable in the
circumstances of the case, only the following should
be deemed to be suitable employment:
- (a) employment in the usual occupation of the
insured person in a place not involving a change
of residence and at the current rate of wages, as
fixed by collective agreements where applicable;
or
- (b) another employment acceptable to the
insured person.
- (4) After the expiration of the initial period
--
- (a) employment involving a change of
occupation may be deemed to be suitable if the
employment offered is one which may reasonably be
offered to the insured person, having regard to
his strength, ability, previous experience and any
facilities for training available to him;
- (b) employment involving a change of residence
may be deemed to be suitable if suitable
accommodation is available in the new place of
residence;
- (c) employment under conditions less
favourable than the insured person habitually
obtained in his usual occupation and district may
be deemed to be suitable if the conditions offered
conform to the standard generally observed in the
occupation and district in which the employment is
offered.
Emergency Expenses
- 15. Benefits should be provided in respect of
extraordinary expenses, not otherwise covered, incurred
in cases of sickness, maternity, invalidity and
death.
- (1) Necessary domestic help should be provided, or
benefit paid for hiring it, during the
hospitalisation of the mother of dependent children,
if she is an insured woman or the wife of an insured
man and is not receiving any benefit in lieu of
earnings.
- (2) A lump sum should be paid at childbirth to
insured women and the wives of insured men towards
the cost of a layette and similar expenses.
- (3) A special supplement should be paid to
recipients of invalidity or old-age benefit who need
constant attendance.
- (4) A lump sum should be paid on the death of an
insured person, or of the wife, husband or dependent
child of an insured person, towards the cost of
burial.
Employment Injuries
- 16. The contingency for which compensation for an
employment injury should be paid is traumatic injury or
disease resulting from employment and not brought about
deliberately or by the serious and wilful misconduct of
the victim which results in temporary or permanent
incapacity or death.
- (1) Injuries resulting from employment should be
deemed to include accidents occurring on the way to
or from the place of employment.
- (2) Where compensation for an employment injury is
payable, the foregoing provisions should be subject
to appropriate modifications as indicated in the
following paragraphs.
- (3) Any disease which occurs frequently only to
persons employed in certain occupations or is a
poisoning caused by a substance used in certain
occupations, should, if the person suffering from
such a disease was engaged in such an occupation, be
presumed to be of occupational origin and give rise
to compensation.
- (4) A list of diseases presumed to be of
occupational origin should be established and should
be revised from time to time by a simple
procedure.
- (5) In fixing any minimum period of employment in
the occupation required to establish the presumption
of occupational origin and any maximum period during
which the presumption of occupational origin will
remain valid after leaving the employment, regard
should be had to the length of time required for the
contraction and manifestation of the disease.
- (6) Temporary incapacity compensation should be
payable under conditions similar to those applicable
to the payment of sickness benefit.
- (7) Consideration should be given to the possibility
of paying compensation from the first day of
temporary incapacity if the incapacity lasts longer
than the waiting period.
- (8) Permanent incapacity compensation should be
payable in respect of the loss or reduction of
earning capacity by reason of the loss of a member
or function or by reason of a chronic condition due
to injury or disease.
- (9) A person who becomes permanently incapacitated
should be expected to resume employment in any
occupation which may reasonably be indicated for
him, having regard to his remaining strength and
ability, his previous experience, and any facilities
for training available to him.
- (10) If no such employment can be offered, the
person should receive compensation for total
incapacity on a definitive or provisional
basis.
- (11) If such employment can be offered, but the sum
which the person is able to earn by ordinary effort
in the employment is significantly less than that
which he would probably have earned had he not
suffered the injury or disease, he should receive
compensation for partial incapacity proportionate to
the difference in earning capacity.
- (12) Consideration should be given to the
possibility of paying suitable compensation in every
case of loss of a member or function or
disfigurement, even where no reduction of capacity
can be proved.
- (13) Persons exposed to the risk of an occupational
disease of gradual development should be examined
periodically, and those for whom a change of
occupation is indicated should be eligible for
compensation.
- (14) Compensation for permanent incapacity, total or
partial, should be paid from the time when temporary
incapacity compensation ceases for the whole
duration of permanent incapacity.
- (15) Persons receiving compensation for permanent
partial incapacity should be able to qualify for
other benefits under the same conditions as
able-bodied persons, where the rates of such
benefits are related to the previous earnings of the
insured person.
- (16) Where the rates of such benefits are not
related to the previous earnings of the insured
person, a maximum may be fixed for the combined rate
of compensation and other benefit.
- (17) Survivors' compensation should, subject to the
provisions of the following subparagraphs, be paid
to the same dependants as could otherwise qualify
for survivors' benefits.
- (18) A widow should receive compensation for the
whole duration of her widowhood.
- (19) A child should receive compensation until the
age of eighteen, or twenty-one if he is continuing
his general or vocational education.
- (20) Provision should be made for compensating other
members of the family of the deceased who were
dependent upon him, without prejudice to the claims
of the widow and children.
- (21) The survivors of a person permanently
incapacitated in the degree of two-thirds or more
who dies otherwise than from the effects of an
employment injury should be entitled to basic
survivors' benefits, whether or not the deceased
fulfilled the contribution conditions for such
benefit at the time of his death.
B. Persons covered
Range of Persons to Be Covered
- 17. Social insurance should afford protection, in the
contingencies to which they are exposed, to all employed and
self-employed persons, together with their dependants, in
respect of whom it is practicable--
- (a) to collect contributions without incurring
disproportionate administrative expenditure;
and
- (b) to pay benefits with the necessary
co-operation of medical and employment services and
with due precautions against abuse.
- (1) Dependent wives (that is to say, wives who are not
employed or self-employed) and dependent children (that is
to say, persons who are under the school-leaving age, or who
are under the age of eighteen and are continuing their
general or vocational education) should be protected in
virtue of the insurance of their breadwinners.
Collection of Contributions
- 18. The employer should be made responsible for
collecting contributions in respect of all persons employed
by him, and should be entitled to deduct the sums due by
them from their remuneration at the time when it is
paid.
- (1) Where membership of an occupational association or
the possession of a licence is compulsory for any class
of self-employed persons, the association or the
licensing authority may be made responsible for
collecting contributions from the persons
concerned.
- (2) The national or local authority may be made
responsible for collecting contributions from
self-employed persons registered for the purpose of
taxation.
- (3) Pending the development of agencies to enforce
payment of contributions, provision should be made for
enabling self-employed persons to contribute
voluntarily, either as individuals or as members of
associations.
Administration of Benefits
- 19. In order to facilitate the efficient administration
of benefits, arrangements should be made for the keeping of
records of contributions, for ready means of verifying the
presence of the contingencies which give rise to benefits,
and for a parallel organisation of medical and employment
services with preventive and remedial functions.
Employed Persons
- 20. Persons employed for remuneration should be insured
against the whole range of contingencies covered by social
insurance as soon as the collection of contributions in
respect of them can be organised and the necessary
arrangements can be made for the administration of
benefit.
- (1) Persons whose employment is so irregular, or likely
to be so short in its total duration, that they are
unlikely to qualify for benefit confined to employed
persons, may be excluded from insurance for such
benefits. Special provision should be made on behalf of
persons who ordinarily work for a very short period for
the same employer.
- (2) Apprentices who receive no remuneration should be
insured against employment injuries, and, as from the
date at which they would have completed their
apprenticeship for their trade, compensation based on
the wages current for workers in that trade should
become payable.
Self-Employed Persons
- 21. Self-employed persons should be insured against the
contingencies of invalidity, old age and death under the
same conditions as employed persons as soon as the
collection of their contributions can be organised.
Consideration should be given to the possibility of insuring
them also against sickness and maternity necessitating
hospitalisation, sickness which has lasted for several
months, and extraordinary expenses incurred in cases of
sickness, maternity, invalidity and death.
- (1) Members of the employer's family living in his
house, other than his dependent wife or dependent
children, should be insured against the said
contingencies on the basis of either their actual wages
or, if these cannot be ascertained, the market value of
their services; the employer should be responsible for
the payment of contributions in respect of such
persons.
- (2) Self-employed persons whose earnings are ordinarily
so low that they can be presumed to be a merely
subsidiary or casual source of income, or that payment
of the minimum contribution would be a hardship for
them, should be excluded provisionally from insurance
and referred for counsel to the employment service or to
any special service that may exist for promoting the
welfare of the occupational group to which they may
belong.
- (3) Persons who, after completing the contribution
period prescribed as a qualification for invalidity and
survivors' benefits, cease to be compulsorily insured,
either as employed or as self-employed persons, should
be given the option, to be exercised within a limited
period, of continuing their insurance under the same
conditions as self-employed persons, subject to such
modifications as may be prescribed.
C. Benefit Rates and Contribution Conditions
Benefit Rates
- 22. Benefits should replace lost earnings, with due
regard to family responsibilities, up to as high a level as
is practicable without impairing the will to resume work
where resumption is a possibility, and without levying
charges on the productive groups so heavy that output and
employment are checked.
- 23. Benefits should be related to the previous earnings
of the insured person on the basis of which he has
contributed: Provided that any excess of earnings over those
prevalent among skilled workers may be ignored for the
purpose of determining the rate of benefits, or portions
thereof, financed from sources other than the contributions
of the insured person.
- 24. Benefits at flat rates may be appropriate for
countries where adequate and economical facilities exist for
the population to procure additional protection by voluntary
insurance. Such benefits should be commensurate with the
earnings of unskilled workers.
- (1) Sickness and unemployment benefits should, in the
case of unskilled workers, be not less than 40 per cent.
of the previous net earnings of the insured person if he
has no dependants, or 60 per cent. thereof if he has a
dependent wife or housekeeper for his children; for each
of not more than two dependent children, an additional
10 per cent. of such earnings, less the amount of any
children's allowances for these children, should be
payable.
- (2) In the case of workers with high earnings, the
foregoing proportions of benefit to previous earnings
may be somewhat reduced.
- (3) Maternity benefit should in all cases be sufficient
for the full and healthy maintenance of the mother and
her child; it should be not less than 100 per cent. of
the current net wage for female unskilled workers or 75
per cent. of the previous net earnings of the
beneficiary, whichever is the greater, but may be
reduced by the amount of any child's allowance payable
in respect of the child.
- (4) Basic invalidity and old-age benefits should be not
less than 30 per cent. of the current wage commonly
recognised for male unskilled workers in the district in
which the beneficiary resides, if the beneficiary has no
dependants, or 45 per cent. thereof if he has a
dependent wife who would be qualified for widow's
benefit or a housekeeper for his children; for each of
not more than two dependent children, an additional 10
per cent. of such wage, less the amount of any
children's allowances for these children, should be
payable.
- (5) Basic widow's benefit should be not less than 30 per
cent. of the current minimum wage commonly recognised
for male unskilled workers in the district in which the
beneficiary resides; for each of not more than three
dependent children, child's benefit at the rate of 10
per cent. of such wage, less the amount of any
children's allowances for these children, should be
payable.
- (6) In the case of an orphan, basic child's benefit
should be not less than 20 per cent. of the current
minimum wage commonly recognised for male unskilled
workers, less the amount of any child's allowance
payable in respect of the orphan.
- (7) A portion of every contribution additional to those
paid as a qualification for basic invalidity, old-age
and survivors' benefits may be credited to the insured
person for the purpose of increasing the benefits
provided for in sub-paragraphs (4), (5) and (6).
- (8) In every case in which retirement is deferred beyond
the minimum age at which old-age benefit could have been
claimed, basic old-age benefit should be equitably
increased.
- (9) Compensation for employment injuries should not be
less than two-thirds of the wages lost, or estimated to
have been lost, as the result of the injury.
- (10) Such compensation should take the form of
periodical payments, except in cases in which the
competent authority is satisfied that the payment of a
lump sum will be more advantageous to the
beneficiary.
- (11) Periodical payments in respect of permanent
incapacity and death should be adjusted currently to
significant changes in the wage level in the insured
person's previous occupation.
Contribution Conditions
- 25. The right to benefits other than compensation for
employment injuries should be subject to contribution
conditions designed to prove that the normal status of the
claimant is that of an employed or self-employed person and
to maintain reasonable regularity in the payment of
contributions: Provided that a person shall not be
disqualified for benefits by reason of the failure of his
employer duly to collect the contributions payable in
respect of him.
- (1) The contribution conditions for sickness, maternity
and unemployment benefits may include the requirement
that contributions shall have been paid in respect of at
least a quarter of a prescribed period, such as two
years, completed before the contingency occurs.
- (2) The contribution conditions for maternity benefit
may include the requirement that the first contribution
shall have been paid at least ten months before the
expected date of confinement, but even though the
contribution conditions are not fulfilled, maternity
benefit at the minimum rate should be paid during the
period of compulsory abstention from work after
confinement, if the claimant's normal status appears,
after consideration of the case, to be that of an
employed person.
- (3) The contribution conditions for basic invalidity,
old-age and survivors' benefits may include the
requirement that contributions shall have been paid in
respect of at least two-fifths of a prescribed period,
such as five years, completed before the contingency
occurs; payment of contributions in respect of not less
than three-quarters of a prescribed period, such as ten
years, or of any longer period which has elapsed since
entry into insurance, should be recognised as an
alternative qualification for benefit.
- (4) The contribution conditions for old-age benefit may
include the requirement that the first contribution
shall have been paid at least five years before the
claim for benefit is made.
- (5) The right to benefit may be suspended where an
insured person wilfully fails to pay any contribution
due by him in respect of any period of self-employment
or to pay any penalty imposed for late payment of
contributions.
- (6) The insurance status of an insured person at the
date when he becomes entitled to invalidity or old-age
benefit should be maintained during the currency of such
benefit for the purposes of ensuring him, in the event
of recovery from invalidity, as full protection under
the scheme as he was entitled to on the occurrence of
the invalidity, and of entitling his survivors to
survivors' benefits.
D. Distribution of Cost
- 26. The cost of benefits, including the cost of
administration, should be distributed among insured persons,
employers and taxpayers, in such a way as to be equitable to
insured persons and to avoid hardship to insured persons of
small means or any disturbance to production.
- (1) The contribution of an insured person should not
exceed such proportion of his earnings taken into
account for reckoning benefits as, applied to the
estimated average earnings of all persons insured
against the same contingencies, would yield a
contribution income the probable present value of which
would equal the probable present value of the benefits
to which they may become entitled (excluding
compensation for employment injuries).
- (2) In accordance with this principle the contributions
of employed persons and self-employed persons for the
same benefits may, as a rule, represent the same
proportion of their respective earnings.
- (3) A minimum absolute rate, based on the minimum rate
of earnings which may be deemed to be indicative of
substantial gainful work, may be prescribed for the
insured person's contribution with respect to benefits
the whole or part of which does not vary with the rate
of previous earnings.
- (4) Employers should be required to contribute,
particularly by subsidising the insurance of low-wage
earners, not less than half the total cost of benefits
confined to employed persons, excluding compensation for
employment injuries.
- (5) The entire cost of compensation for employment
injuries should be contributed by employers.
- (6) Consideration should be given to the possibility of
applying some method of merit rating in the calculation
of contributions in respect of compensation for
employment injuries.
- (7) The rates of contribution of insured persons and
employers should be kept as stable as possible, and for
this purpose a stabilisation fund should be
constituted.
- (8) The cost of benefits which cannot properly be met by
contributions should be covered by the community.
- (9) Among the elements of cost which may be charged to
the community may be mentioned --
- (a) the contribution deficit resulting from
bringing persons into insurance when already
elderly;
- (b) the contingent liability involved in
guaranteeing the payment of basic invalidity,
old-age and survivors' benefits and the payment of
adequate maternity benefit;
- (c) the liability resulting from the continued
payment of unemployment benefit when unemployment
persists at an excessive level; and
- (d) subsidies to the insurance of self-employed
persons of small means.
E. Administration
- 27. The administration of social insurance should be
unified or co-ordinated within a general system of social
security services, and contributors should, through their
organisations, be represented on the bodies which determine
or advise upon administrative policy and propose legislation
or frame regulations.
- (1) Social insurance should be administered under the
direction of a single authority, subject, in federal
countries, to the distribution of legislative
competence; this authority should be associated with the
authorities administering social assistance, medical
care services and employment services in a co-ordinating
body for matters of common interest, such as the
certification of inability to work or to obtain
work.
- (2) The unified administration of social insurance
should be compatible with the operation of separate
insurance schemes, compulsory or voluntary in character,
providing supplementary, but not alternative, benefits
for certain occupational groups, such as miners and
seamen, public officials, the staffs of individual
undertakings and members of mutual benefit
societies.
- (3) The law and regulations relating to social insurance
should be drafted in such a way that beneficiaries and
contributors can easily understand their rights and
duties.
- (4) In devising procedures to be followed by
beneficiaries and contributors, simplicity should be a
primary consideration.
- (5) Central and regional advisory councils, representing
such bodies as trade unions, employers' associations,
chambers of commerce, farmers' associations, women's
associations and child protection societies, should be
established for the purpose of making recommendations
for the amendment of the law and administrative methods,
and generally of maintaining contact between the
administration of social insurance and groups of
contributors and beneficiaries.
- (6) Employers and workers should be closely associated
with the administration of compensation for employment
injuries, particularly in connection with the prevention
of accidents and occupational diseases and with merit
rating.
- (7) Claimants should have a right of appeal in case of
dispute with the administrative authority concerning
such questions as the right to benefit and the rate
thereof.
- (8) Appeals should preferably be referred to special
tribunals, which should include referees who are experts
in social insurance law, assisted by assessors,
representative of the group to which the claimant
belongs, and, where employed persons are concerned, by
representatives of employers also.
- (9) In any dispute concerning liability to insurance or
the rate of contribution, an employed or self-employed
person, and, where an employer's contribution is in
question, an employer should have a right of
appeal.
- (10) Provision for uniformity of interpretation should
be assured by a superior appeal tribunal.
II. SOCIAL ASSISTANCE
A. Maintenance of Children
- 28. Society should normally co-operate with parents
through general measures of assistance designed to
secure the well-being of dependent children.
- (1) Public subsidies in kind or in cash or in both
should be established in order to assure the healthy
nurture of children, help to maintain large
families, and complete the provision made for
children through social insurance.
- (2) Where the purpose in view is to assure the
healthy nurture of children, subsidies should take
the form of such advantages as free or below-cost
infants' food and school meals and below-cost
dwellings for families with several children.
- (3) Where the purpose in view is to help to maintain
large families or to complete the provision made for
children by subsidies in kind and through social
insurance, subsidies should take the form of
children's allowances.
- (4) Such allowances should be payable, irrespective
of the parents' income, according to a prescribed
scale, which should represent a substantial
contribution to the cost of maintaining a child,
should allow for the higher cost of maintaining
older children, and should, as a minimum, be granted
to all children for whom no provision is made
through social insurance.
- (5) Society as a whole should accept responsibility
for the maintenance of dependent children in so far
as parental responsibility for maintaining them
cannot be enforced.
B. Maintenance of Needy Invalids, Aged Persons and Widows
- 29. Invalids, aged persons and widows who are not
receiving social insurance benefits because they or their
husbands, as the case may be, were not compulsorily insured,
and whose incomes do not exceed a prescribed level, should
be entitled to special maintenance allowances at prescribed
rates.
- (1) The persons who should be entitled to maintenance
allowances should include --
- (a) persons belonging to occupational groups, or
residing in districts to which social insurance
does not yet apply, or has not yet applied for as
long as the qualifying period for basic
invalidity, old-age or survivors' benefits, as the
case may be, and the widows and dependent children
of such persons; and
- (b) persons who are already invalids at the time
when they would normally enter insurance.
- (2) Maintenance allowances should be sufficient for
full, long-term maintenance; they should vary with
the current cost of living, and may vary as between
urban and rural areas.
- (3) Maintenance allowances should be paid at the
full rate to persons whose other income does not
exceed a prescribed level and at reduced rates in
other cases.
- (4) The provisions of the present Recommendation
defining the contingencies in which invalidity,
old-age and survivors' benefits should be paid
should be applied, in so far as they are relevant,
to maintenance allowances.
C. General Assistance
- 30. Appropriate allowances in cash or partly in cash and
partly in kind should be provided for all persons who are in
want and do not require internment for corrective
care.
- (1) The range of cases in which the amount of the
allowance is entirely discretionary should be gradually
narrowed as the result of the improved classification of
cases of want and establishment of budgets corresponding
to the cost of maintenance in short-term and long-term
indigency.
- (2) The grant of allowance may be subject to compliance
by the recipient with directions given by the
authorities administering medical or employment services
in order that the assistance may yield its greatest
constructive effect.