The reach of Law No. 18 of 2023: which groups fall under Iraq's workers' social security
"I work in a family shop; am I covered?" "I'm on contract with a ministry but not permanent; which law applies to me?" "I'm self-employed; can I join?" One text answers most of these: article 3 of Workers' Pension and Social Security Law No. 18 of 2023, read with the definitions in article 1. The Law Office of Ali Barakat, in Baghdad, al-Yarmouk, goes through it group by group.
Start with who counts as a worker
Article 1(7) describes a worker as any person, man or woman, who works under an employer's instructions and oversight. The form of the deal does not matter: a signed document, a spoken agreement, or an understanding that can be read from the facts. Trainees and people on trial are included, as is anyone doing mental or physical work for pay of any kind. So the lack of a written contract does not take someone out of the scheme, and probation is not time outside it, as Probation in an employment contract explains.
Article 1(10) treats as an employer any individual, company or body that pays even one worker. A single employee is enough to trigger the duties.
Groups the whole law applies to
Article 3(1) names:
- Private-sector workers.
- Mixed-sector workers.
- Cooperative-sector workers.
- The self-employed.
- Anyone covered by the Labour Law.
- People working in a government department or public company without being confirmed on the permanent establishment.
The last group causes the most confusion. A contract or daily-wage arrangement with a ministry does not make someone a confirmed civil servant, and the text expressly places such a person under this law for as long as they are not on the permanent establishment.
Groups reached by the insurance branches
Article 3(3) adds that the social security branches extend to:
- The self-employed and employers themselves. Owning the business does not put someone outside the system just because they pay for their staff.
- People in informal work, such as street vendors or day labourers on building sites. Article 12 gives them, together with those who opt into retirement cover voluntarily, a branch of their own.
- An employer's relatives working in the business: spouse, children, parents and grandparents, and grandchildren.
- Iraqis working in the country for an embassy, an organisation or a company.
Iraqis working abroad
An Iraqi working in another country can choose to stay in the retirement branch, under article 3(2), with due regard to the Arab and international conventions that deal with someone being insured in two systems at once.
Foreign workers in Iraq
Article 3 does not name foreign workers, but the law treats them as insured in several places. Article 14(2)(c) makes the employer pay the state's share on top of its own for a foreign worker, and article 25 governs paying a foreigner's entitlements on leaving Iraq, on the basis of reciprocity or international labour conventions, whichever is better. The cost to the employer is covered in What the law makes an employer pay.
What coverage brings
Article 1(4) describes an insured person as someone paying contributions for current or past work, in a large or small business or in informal work. Article 12 lists five branches: retirement and death; work injuries, sickness and occupational disease; unemployment support; voluntary retirement and informal-work cover; and health care, social services and maternity insurance.
The practical step
If you fall in a covered group and are not registered, the office to approach is the Workers' Pension and Social Security Department in the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. Its head office is in Baghdad, and article 4 lets it open sections in the governorate centres outside the Region. The employer's registration duties are in Employer social security duties, and the first hire in Opening a social security file for the first employee.
The office follows these provisions from Baghdad, al-Yarmouk.
Legal basis and sources
Frequently asked questions
I'm on contract with a government department and not confirmed. Does this law cover me?
Yes. As long as you are not on the permanent establishment, article 3(1) brings you in.
I work in my father's shop. Should I be registered?
Yes. A son working in his father's business falls within article 3(3)(c).
I work for an international organisation inside Iraq. Am I covered?
Yes, if you are Iraqi. Article 3(3)(d) mentions work for missions, organisations and companies inside the country.
I have no written contract. Have I lost my right to social security?
No. The article 1 definition of a worker includes spoken and implied agreements.
Related topics and articles
- 01Opening 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.
- 02The employer's duties in workers' social securityEmployer duties under Law No. 18 of 2023: yearly particulars, payment time limits, clearance, contractors and work injury.
- 03What the law makes an employer pay for an Iraqi or a foreign workerThe costs Iraqi law puts on an employer for an Iraqi or foreign worker: wage and add-ons, paid leave, end of service, social security contribution rates, work-permit and entry charges, travel and housing duties.
- 04Probation in an Iraqi employment contract, and when the contract may end during itProbation under Labour Law 37/2015: when it is allowed, its maximum length, the bar on repeating it, ending the contract during it, notice, and the worker's pay, leave and social security.
- 05Objecting 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.