During the triennium 2020-2022, the Technical Commission on Employment Policies and Unemployment Insurance (TC EMP) has concentrated its efforts on revising the employment-related ISSA Guidelines as well as conducting in-depth research on the social protection of workers in non-standard forms of employment with a focus on online platform workers.
A major work of TC EMP was the revision of the ISSA Guidelines on the Promotion of Sustainable Employment. The revised guidelines comprise a new element on how to respond to new labour market challenges, and will be launched during the World Social Security Forum (WSSF) in Marrakech, Morocco, in October. A new part on “Regulating new forms of work and adapting social protection schemes” deals with the responsibility of management to propose and implement appropriate solutions concerning the activities of digital platforms. These solutions are related to issues such as reliable recording and statistics for activities; the status of service providers in labour law: Employee, self-employed or intermediary status; and the arrangements for workers’ affiliation to social security, collection of contributions and entitlement to benefits. An inventory of good practices and references has also been established for the revised guidelines.
TC EMP contributed to a joint ILO-ISSA background paper on Protecting Workers’ right in New Forms of Employment, which was presented at the BRICS Labour and Employment Ministers’ Meeting hosted online by the Chinese Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security in July 2022. Furthermore, TC EMP has also prepared a technical report entitled Employment and Social Protection for Online Platform Workers: Recent Developments and Trends which will be presented at the forthcoming WSSF.
In addition, TC Employment has participated in the drafting of new Guidelines on Continuity and Resilience of Social Security Services and Systems, and contributed in particular to Chapter E on branch-specific issues. It also actively participated in the Regional Social Security Forum (RSSF) for Europe, the 16th ISSA International Conference on Information and Communication Technology in Social Security (ICT 2022) and the 20th ISSA International Conference of Social Security Actuaries, Statisticians and Investment Specialists (ACT 2022) as well as in several ISSA e-workshops and webinars on error, evasion and fraud, human resources management, COVID-19 responses and unemployment protection, and so on. Particularly worth mentioning is TC EMP’s input on unemployment insurance at the International Public Employment Forum, organized by the Social Security Organization (SOCSO) of Malaysia in September 2021.
