Objecting to decisions of the workers' social-security department
A decision of the Department of Pension and Social Security for Workers may concern a contribution, a delay fine, an entitlement, or a medical assessment. The Workers' Retirement and Social Security Law No. 18 of 2023 sets out two clear routes: an administrative objection to decisions of the Director General before the board of the Fund, and a medical objection to a medical committee's decision before the higher medical committee. The framework is on the page about enrolling workers.
Decisions of the Director General, before the board
The Director General decides, under article 11, claims relating to insured persons and matters of contributions and fines, in accordance with the Law and the instructions. The board of the Fund decides, under article 7, objections to decisions of the Director General. The board's decisions are submitted to the Minister for ratification within fifteen days of the date on which they are registered in the Minister's office. If no decision is taken within that period, the decisions are deemed to have been ratified. That is the route the text sets out for objecting to a decision of the Director General.
The text does not, after the Minister's ratification — or after the fifteen days have expired — set out a later challenge route, and it does not name a body that hears one.
A medical objection
The insured person or the employer may, under article 87, object to a medical decision before the higher medical committee within thirty days of being notified of it. The decision of the higher medical committee is final. "Final" here is the word the text uses for that medical decision. A later challenge route that the provision does not mention is not inferred from it, and no discussion is opened of a judicial decision the Law does not name.
What is not mixed with this objection?
The insured person's right, under article 32, to bring a claim against the employer for payment of the contributions is a path between the worker and the employer, not an objection to a decision of the Department. Delay fines under article 17 may be waived by the Minister, on a recommendation of the board, if the delay is due to a convincing excuse, and once only. An administrative waiver is not the same as an objection to the decision itself.
The time limits are those the text itself fixes. The office follows a reading of this route from Baghdad, al-Yarmouk.
Legal basis and sources
Frequently asked questions
Before whom is a decision of the Director General objected to?
Before the board of the Workers' Retirement and Social Security Fund, under article 7. The board's decisions are submitted to the Minister for ratification within fifteen days; otherwise they are deemed to have been ratified.
Does the Law name a court after the Minister's ratification?
No. The text stops at ratification or at the expiry of the period.
Within what time may a medical decision be objected to?
Within thirty days of notification, before the higher medical committee, under article 87. That committee's decision is final according to the same text.
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.
- 02Opening a social-security file at the first hire after a company is formedFirst-hire social-security file after a company is formed: coverage, wage base, particulars and the security document.
- 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.