Agreements
Bilateral social security agreements are being negotiated with various countries to protect the interest of expatriate workers and the companies on a reciprocal basis. These agreements help workers by:
- Providing for exemption from social security contribution in case of short-term contracts
- Exportability of pension in case of relocation to the home country or any third country
- Totalisation of the contribution periods
Such agreements also prove beneficial for the companies, as exemption from social security contribution, in respect of their employees substantially reduces their costs.
The Ministry has signed Bilateral Social Security Agreements with Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Hungary, Denmark, The Czech Republic, Republic of korea and Norway.
Similar agreements have been finalized with Canada and the Federal Republic of Germany and are expected to be signed shortly. Negotiations are in progress with Bulgaria, Austria, Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Italy and Australia. Two rounds of exploratory talks have been held with the USA.
- Bilateral Co-operation For Protection and Welfare of Emigrants
- Social Security Agreements
- Labour Mobility Partnership (LMPA)
- Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs)
Bilateral Co-operation For Protection and Welfare of Emigrants
Protection of emigrants against exploitation and abuse is not possible in the absence of commitment of the Government of the host country. To secure such commitment, India signed labor agreements with Jordan and Qatar in 1980s. However, no further progress was made in this direction for many years.
After its creation in 2004, the Ministry made concerted efforts to enter into Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with the major labor receiving countries for bilateral cooperation towards protection and welfare of our emigrants.
The MOU with UAE was signed on 13th December 2006 and with Kuwait in April 2007. An additional protocol to the existing labor agreement between India & Qatar was signed in New Delhi on 20th November 2007 to address mutual concerns. MoU with Oman was signed during the Prime Minister’s visit to Oman on 8th November, 2008. MOU with Malaysia was signed on 3rd January, 2009.. A similar MoU with Bahrain has been finalised and will be signed soon. Efforts are being made to negotiate MOUs with Saudi Arabia and Yemen also. The following broad principles have been built into the MOUs:
- Declaration of mutual intent to enhance employment opportunities and for bilateral cooperation in protection and welfare of workers.
- The host country to take measures for protection and welfare of the workers in unorganized sector.
- Statement of the broad procedure that the foreign employer shall follow to recruit Indian workers.
- The recruitment and terms of employment to be in conformity of the laws of both the countries
- A Joint Working Group to be constituted to ensure implementation of the MOU and to meet regularly to find solutions to bilateral labor problems.
The Ministry proposes to sign MOUs with important receiving countries of the Central and Eastern Europe and Asia to forge bilateral partnerships to expand the overseas employment market for Indian workers particularly for the skilled category. We are already in talks with Poland and have also sent a draft MOU to South Korea. Similar MOUs will be pursued with some other labor receiving countries in Europe and South East Asia.
Social Security Agreements
| Sr. No. | Title | Download |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Understanding on Social Security Agreement Between India and Quebec (not in force) |  (2.83 MB) |
| 2 | Social Security Agreement Between India and Australia (not in force) | (3.20 MB) |
| 3 | Social Security Agreement Between The Republic of India and The Swiss Confederation (in force) | (1.05 MB) |
| 4 | Social Security Agreement between The Republic of India and The kingdom of Norway (in force) | (132 KB) |
| 5 | Social Security Agreement between The Republic of India and The Kingdom of Denmark (in force) | (173 KB) |
| 6 | Social Security Agreement between India and Luxembourg (in force) | (66 KB) |
| 7 | Social Security Agreement between India and the Netherlands (in force) | (3.84 MB) |
| 8 | Social Security Agreement between India and Belgium (in force) | (115 KB) |
| 9 | Social Security Agreement between India and the French Republic (in force) | (164 KB) |
| 10 | Social Security Agreement on Social Insurance between India and Germany (in force) | (94 KB) |
| 11 | Social Security Agreement between India and Hungary (in force) | (90 KB) |
| 12 | Social Security Agreement between India and the Czech Republic (in force) | (114 KB) |
| 13 | Social Security Agreement between India and Japan (not in force) | (1.41 MB) |
| 14 | Social Security Agreement between India and Sweden (in force) | (1.02 MB) |
| 15 | Social Security Agreement between India and Finland (in force) | (1.13 KB) |
| 16 | Social Security Agreement between India and Canada (not in force) | (1.29 MB) |
| 17 | Social Security Agreement between India and the Republic of Korea (in force) | (1.08 MB) |
| 18 | Social Security Agreement between India and Austria (not in force) | (3.20 MB) |
| 19 | Social Security Agreement between India and Portugal (not in force) | (1.16 MB) |
| 20 | Comprehensive Social Security Agreement between India and Germany (not in force) | (2.01 MB) |
Labour Mobility Partnership (LMPA)
| Sr. No. | Title | Download |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | LMPA Agreement between Denmark and India | (3.46 MB) |
Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs)
| Sr. No. | Title | Download |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labour Co-operation for Domestic service workers with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia | (436 KB) |
| 2 | Memorandum of Understanding between India and Jordan | (867 KB) |
| 3 | Memorandum of Understanding between India and Bahrain | (1.01 MB) |
| 4 | Memorandum of Understanding between India and Malaysia | (909 KB) |
| 5 | Memorandum of Understanding between India and Oman | (430 KB) |
| 6 | Memorandum of Understanding between India and UAE | (723 KB) |
| 7 | Memorandum of Understanding between India and Kuwait | (980 KB) |
| 8 | Agreement between India and Govt. of Qatar on Manpower | (755 KB) |
| 9 | Additional Protocol Agreement between India and Qatar | (657 KB) |