Opening a social-security file at the first hire after a company is formed
Registering the company with the Registrar of Companies is one path; enrolling a first worker with the Department of Pension and Social Security for Workers is another. Law No. 18 of 2023 on workers' retirement and social security covers workers in the private, mixed and cooperative sectors, and the others listed in article 3, from the moment the employment relationship arises, not months after work has begun. The general page is enrolling workers in social security, and the continuing detail is on the employer's duties.
Who is enrolled at the first hire?
Anyone who falls within the article 1 definition of an insured person is enrolled: a person who is working, or who used to work, in a group or sole work venture, or in unorganised work, and who pays the social-security contribution. That definition is read together with the definition of a worker in Labour Law No. 37 of 2015. If there are trainees, article 22 includes their names in the particulars. If the person hired is not Iraqi, the rules on work for foreigners are reviewed on a work permit, and, under article 14, the employer meets the State's share of the contribution as well as the employer's own share, without reducing the case to a single rate for every file.
This file is not mixed with a State employee's retirement file before the National Retirement Authority.
The wage base in the first month
Contributions are calculated, under article 15, as a proportion of the wage and allowances. The wage taken as the base may not fall below the occupational minimum for the insured person or the general minimum, taking the higher of the two, and may not rise above five multiples of that minimum. For someone who joins the employer's service for the first time, the contribution is worked out on the entire monthly wage actually paid, by reference to the pay and allowances received. The employer's rate and the insured person's rate are set out in article 14 and on the general page; they are reviewed according to the type of activity.
The particulars, and the security document
Particulars of the insured persons' names, dates of birth and pay are filed on the forms provided, and they must correspond to the books and records kept under the Labour Law, under article 22. The annual statement filed early in each year is set out in article 23 and on the page about the employer's duties. This is a pointer to what the Law requires.
The Department issues a document called a "security document" confirming the insured person's enrolment, under article 26. Its form, its particulars and the manner of its use are organised by instructions issued by the Minister.
Under article 37 of the Labour Law, a written employment contract is made in three copies, and copy number three is lodged with the department that article 1 of that Law defines as دائرة التشغيل والقروض. Depositing a copy of the contract is a labour path; enrolling the worker in social security is a different path before the Department of Pension and Social Security for Workers. The two names are not mixed.
The office follows a reading of this file from Baghdad, al-Yarmouk.
Legal basis and sources
- Workers' Retirement and Social Security Law No. 18 of 2023, especially articles 15, 22 and 26
- Labour Law No. 37 of 2015
Frequently asked questions
Is company registration enough to enrol a first worker?
No. Company registration is a path before the Registrar of Companies. Enrolment of the worker is a path before the Department of Pension and Social Security for Workers, and it applies from the moment the employment relationship arises.
On what wage is the first month's contribution calculated?
On the full monthly wage paid, under article 15, within the lower and upper limits the text sets out.
What is the security document?
A document the Department issues confirming the insured person's enrolment, under article 26. Its form is organised by the Minister's instructions.
Related topics and articles
- 01The employer's duties in workers' social securityEmployer duties under Law No. 18 of 2023: yearly particulars, payment time limits, clearance, contractors and work injury.
- 02Objecting to decisions of the workers' social-security departmentObjecting to a Director General decision before the Fund board (art. 7), and a medical objection within thirty days under article 87.
- 03The reach of Law No. 18 of 2023: which groups fall under Iraq's workers' social securityThe reach of Workers' Pension and Social Security Law No. 18 of 2023: private, mixed and cooperative sector workers, trainees and probationers, the self-employed and employers, informal work, family members in the business, Iraqis at embassies and organisations, Iraqis abroad, and foreign workers.
- 04Social security clearance when closing a business or liquidating a foreign branchWhy closing, selling or liquidating a business or a foreign company branch in Iraq depends on a clearance certificate from the Workers' Pension and Social Security Department under article 20 of Law No. 18 of 2023, what must be paid first, and what applies to foreign workers leaving.
- 05When does an insured worker become entitled to a pension under Law No. 18 of 2023?The six combinations of age and insured service that open the way to a pension for a worker in the private, mixed or cooperative sector, how the pension is calculated, which periods do not count, and the alternatives when the conditions are not met.