Portability of Social Benefits

Numerous public services have adjusted to provide universal access or extend social protection coverage to an increasingly diverse population through bilateral and multilateral social security agreements or unilateral measures.

One mechanism for extending social protection and paving the way for universal coverage is the establishment of social protection floors – nationally defined sets of basic social security guarantees that ensure at a minimum, that over a lifetime, all those in need have access to essential health care and to basic income security.

Nepal in 2018 introduced a social security scheme to protect and secure employees working in the formal private sector. The contribution-based social security scheme is funded through the contributions made by the workers and the employers.

Every month, tens of thousands of private sector workers and their employers contribute to a common fund which will help needy workers get financial support. Returning migrants can also pay contributions to this Fund and benefit from social entitlements. 

The Government of the Philippines created a communication platform BaLinkBayan for Filipino returnees, which functions as a one-stop online portal for diaspora engagement. BaLinkBayan is a means to connect Filipino individuals and communities to the Philippines through the Diaspora to Development (D2D) program of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) BaLinkBayan focuses on the five of the D2D: diaspora investment and entrepreneurship, diaspora philanthropy, brain gain program, educational exchange, and medical mission coordination. 

In 2017, Indonesia enacted a new Law on the protection of Indonesian migrant workers  (Law No 18/2017).  Replacing an old Law, the new Law reinforces policies to provide end-to-end protection to overseas workers, which including the measures as follows:.

The promotion of employment, improvement of labour market and mobility of skills in ECOWAS region fall within the framework of the implementation of the Protocol on Free Movement of Persons in its three stages - entry, residence, and establishment - the details of which are set out in four additional protocols.

While trade unions attempt to organise migrant workers, it can be difficult for migrants - especially those involved in temporary and circular migration programmes - to join unions. Cooperation between unions in countries of origin and destination can be useful in addressing these protection gaps.

The recommendation contains provisions with regard to the maintenance of rights in social security. It supplements the Equality of Treatment Convention No.118 (1962) and the Maintenance of Social Security Rights Convention No.157 (1982). 

In addition, with a view to facilitating the conclusion of the agreements envisaged by these instruments and their coordination at the international level, it expresses the necessity to promote the conclusion of bilateral or multilateral social security instruments between States.

This Recommendation supplements the Migration for Employment Convention (Revised 1949), No.97 by including provisions for migrants who are refugees and displaced persons.

The Recommendation contains guidance on, among other matters, the organization of the free service provided to assist migrants and the types of assistance that it should provide, as well as the information that  States should make available to the ILO. It provides for the regulation of intermediaries undertaking the recruitment, introduction or placing of migrants for employment.

 It calls for:

Ecuador has signed bilateral social security agreements with Chile, Colombia, Spain and Uruguay, as well as Multilateral and Ibero-American conventions on Social Security. Furthermore, the Ecuadorian State has commitments and obligations in this area, product of Community directives for the Andean Community of Nations (CAN).

The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) was formed by an Act of Parliament in 1985, one of its objectives being the establishment of an Overseas Workers Welfare Fund (OWWF). The OWWF aims to meet all expenses incurred in providing assistance to Sri Lankan migrant workers and their families. The Fund offers a compulsory insurance scheme, coverage of cost of repatriation of migrant workers, scholarships for children, and loan schemes with partner banks to cover migrants' pre-departure costs and start-up of self-employment schemes.