The purpose of this handbook is to guide UNHCR public health and programme staff and ILO staff working on social protection at country level on the considerations and practical steps required to assess options for the inclusion of refugees in national social health protection...

Workers in the arts and entertainment sector (AES)[1] often lack effective access to social protection. The insufficient extent of coverage in many countries stems from the deficiency of social protection schemes to address and accommodate the specificities of AES work. These include diverse forms of employment, including self-employment, temporary or...

The Argentinian law No. 27203 defines the scope of actions of an actor-performer and equates them. Further, it introduces a special method to estimate the number of years of service and contributions to the social security scheme (Article 13). Link to Ley...

The mainly mandatory scheme for artists was set up in 1983 and accommodates a broad list of occupations. Under the Artists’ Social Security Act, persons who benefit from art and creation are obliged to contribute as employers. These contributions are subsidized by the Government. The rest is paid by...

The amendment of September 2020 reforms and consolidates India’s social security laws with the goals to extend social security to all employees and workers either in the organised or unorganised or any other sectors and for matters connected therewith or incidental...

The Atal Pension Yojana, which was set up in 2015, targets informal and self-employed workers who do not contribute to any other pension programmes and do not pay income tax. The key feature for this target is the flexibility of the scheme. Contributions can be made monthly, quarterly or...

Korea adopted the Artist Welfare Act in 2011 with the purpose to legally protect the professional status and rights of artists; to promote the creative activities of artists; and to contribute to artistic development by providing artists with welfare support services (Article 1). Link to the Artist Welfare Act...

With Law 18.384 Uruguay adapted the labour and social insurance conditions to artistic jobs. The law defines the scope of actions of performance and extents coverage for all activities which are carried out in dependence, e.g. the law recognises rehearsal time as service if a contract has been signed...

Lockdown measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic led to the closure of theatres and cinemas, and the suspension or cancellation of movie, television and music productions. Many workers in the industry lost their jobs and had no social protection to help them. A new ILO study shows that extending...

This policy brief outlines the challenges in extending social protection to the cultural and creative sector (CCS), which were exposed by the COVID-19 crisis. These include, inter alia, legal and de facto exclusion due to the specificities of CCS work such as fluctuating employment status, irregular incomes, intermittent nature...

The ILO Working Paper examines social protection schemes covering workers in the cultural and creative sector (CCS). After an overview of economic and employment trends in the CCS, the working paper reviews policy and legal frameworks in selected countries that have pursued specific solutions to extend social security to...

The report provides an overview of the characteristics of the live performance sector including its transnational dimension and analyses it against the backdrop of social security law and labour law. It identifies the challenges for the application of both legal regimes and ends by providing an overview of possible...

The UNESCO report identifies which cultural and creative industries have been disrupted the most by the pandemic and attempts to measure the economic impact of COVID-19 on the cultural and creative sector. Looking ahead, the report explores some of the newer ways in which digital technologies are being used...

The OECD Policy Response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) lays out how the cultural and creative sector is affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and identifies factors that make the effects long-lasting. It describes the fragility of the cultural and creative sector and the inadequacy of social protection schemes to offset...

The Global Commission on the Future of Work acknowledges States’ opportunities to shape the transition of the world of work to the better, including the extension of social protection. With regard to working conditions like fluctuating employment status or geographic mobility, which also characterize AES work, it declares the...

This report assesses the working conditions of domestic workers ten years after the adoption of the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189). It highlights the progress made over a decade, as well as the remaining legal and implementation gaps, and provides guidance on policies that can pave the way...

This policy brief outlines the challenges in extending social protection to domestic workers, which were aggravated by the COVID-19 crisis. These include inter alia legal exclusion in relation to working conditions and arrangements (part time work, multiple employers, informality, etc).  Even where domestic workers might be covered in law,...

The briefing note explains the ILO strategy to expand social security coverage to migrant domestic workers, including the ILO standards relevant to migrant domestic workers. Despite the long list of ILO social security instruments adopted, the note goes on by describing the main challenges of standards setting for migrant...

This guide focuses on the challenges that countries face in implementing labour legislation covering domestic work. It is targeted in particular to government agencies, including labour inspectorates and other institutions that enforce labour regulations, as well as social partners and, more generally, domestic workers and their employers. The guide...

The policy brief outlines the obstacles for the formation of trade unions, strikes and collective bargaining in the sector of domestic work. It highlights that voice and representation for domestic workers is nevertheless important and advocates for new paradigms and new thinking to organize workers of and set collective...

The Unemployment Insurance Amendment Act granted domestic workers a number of social protection benefits by including domestic workers in the Unemployment Insurance Fund. The Fund provides (a) full or partial unemployment benefits in case of dismissal, retrenchment, illness, or death of the employer; and (b) maternity benefits for pregnant...

The Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189) and its accompanying Domestic Workers Recommendation, 2011 (No. 201) address closing the gaps in social protection coverage. It calls on Members to ‘… take appropriate measures, in accordance with national laws and regulations and with due regard for the specific characteristics of...

The Domestic Workers Recommendation, 2011 (No. 201) accompanies the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189) and urges ILO member States to take measures to facilitate the payment of social security contributions. It also highlights the potential of bilateral and multilateral agreements to guarantee equal treatment of migrant domestic workers...

Domestic work is an important source of employment, representing 4.5 per cent of employees worldwide. Yet domestic workers are amongst one of the most vulnerable and unprotected categories of workers. They consistently lack decent working conditions including social protection and are disproportionately exposed to violence and harassment. The vulnerabilities...

Main Takeaways Urgent measures are necessary to provide sufficient income to millions of people who cannot work due to pandemicrelated restrictions, so that they can still meet their basic needs. Many of these workers lack social and labor protections.  Basic income schemes vary in type, design and implementation. Those...