Consultancy

No.: EXCOLL/VIENTIANE/2022/01
Publication date: 24 June 2022
Application deadline (midnight local time): 10 July 2022

Job ID: 8826
Department: RO-Asia and the Pacific
Organization Unit: CO-Bangkok
Location: Vientiane (presence may or may not be required at the duty station)

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Background

Lao PDR 9th National Socio-Economic Development Plan (NSEDP) for 2021-2025 sets as a priority inclusive economic growth, benefiting all members of society under the overall objective of graduating from least developed country status. The Government of Lao PDR is therefore committed to gradually aiming for universal coverage in social protection and to working towards building a much-needed social protection floor that protects all Lao people from socioeconomic shocks, environmental disasters and vulnerabilities.

In April 2020, the Lao government adopted the National Social Protection Strategy (NSPS), and in December 2021, the Lao government promulgated the Prime Minister Decree on Organizations and Functions of National Social Protection Commission. In addition, the Government of Lao PDR (GoL) has demonstrated strong commitment to address the issue of fragmentation of social health protection schemes. In compliance with the Prime Minister Decree 470, and the Law on National Health Insurance, the National Health Insurance scheme is now implemented nationwide, under the oversight of the National Health Insurance Bureau, MoH. In this new NHI model, the Lao Social Security Office (LSSO) keeps the mandate of registering formal economy workers and their dependants, and to collect contributions accordingly.

Ensuring compliance of employers and workers with registration to the LSSO is of utmost importance to ensure adequate social and health protection coverage of the Lao population. There is expectation from the Ministry of Health that promoting compliance with LSSO registration requirements by formal employment business entities will gradually decrease the financial burden of fully subsidizing NHI coverage of workers in the informal economy and their dependents. An increase in social security coverage through improved inspection and enforcement is also in the strong interest of the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and worker organisations to ensure that Lao PDR’s workforce is better protected against health and other risks that can affect their income and work capacity. The factors that contribute towards the low level of compliance of social security laws need to be identified. In addition, weaknesses in the capacity of the social security inspection system and its design need to be studied.

optional section (only if needed)

In Lao PDR, the Social Security Law 2018 specifies in a synthetic way the contents and forms of social security inspections. Inspections are meant to cover the following:
- The implementation of the Law on Social Security (external inspection);
- The performance of civil servants and social security officers (internal inspection);
- The development and implementation plans on social security (internal inspection).

Rights and responsibilities of inspection targets are specified by Laws and national inspection plans, along with measures to ensure advisory services and to apply disciplinary sanctions and fines, where necessary. The Ministerial Decree on social security inspections further details the assignments, qualifications, right, duties and obligations of inspectors; type and methods of inspections as well as the obligations and responsibilities of inspected entities. A Labour Inspection decree is pending endorsement by the Prime Minister.

The Ministerial Social Security Inspection Decision was promulgated in November 2021 and has been disseminated in the southern provinces. The Legislation Division is in charge of developing the legislative and regulatory framework on social security, but also to monitor and supervise the implementation, and inspect the participation of labour units in the social security scheme. It plays a role of mediator, being responsible for the social security dispute resolution. The next roles of LSSO on inspection is to nominate inspectors, develop the inspection guidelines and related sub-legislations as well as carrying out inspection visits.

Objective of the assignment

The objective of the assignment is to provide technical support to the LSSO, placed under the Lao Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, to strengthen the social security inspection function, so to contribute to better compliance with legal provisions on social security and with the ultimate objective to protect workers’ rights with respect to their social security entitlements.

Scope of work/specific tasks

The international consultant expected to carry-on the following tasks:

i. Gain knowledge and provide an overview of the current organization of the Labour and Social security inspection. This includes description and analysis of the current roles and functions, supporting systems and tools being used, and the overall strategy for prevention, detection/inspection and deterrence in place in Lao PDR. This will serve as a basis to assess possible gaps and identify opportunities to strengthen coherence, coordination and effectiveness of inspections and to the development of guidelines.

ii. Develop Social security Inspection guidelines, in compliance with the existing legal framework and in close collaboration with LSSO. The guidelines will cover but will not be limited to the following areas:
- Principles guiding labour/ social security inspection
- Obligations and Powers of social security inspectors
- Detailed scope of social security inspections
- Methods and standards of inspection
- Setting of social security inspection targets
- Setting of performance measurement indicators for social security inspectors
- How to conduct inspections (preparation, conduct, report, follow-up)
- Classification of offenses and enforcement measures
- Collaboration with Employers and Workers
- Collaboration with other line ministries and relevant departments
- Coordination across authorities, and bodies

iii. Develop Internal Inspection guidelines, in compliance with the existing legal framework and in close collaboration with LSSO, and provide recommendations to strengthen internal inspections.

iv. Develop a short roadmap for compliance with social security requirements, allying preventive and enforcement measures. The roadmap will be developed through working sessions with the LSSO and relevant stakeholders, and will include the following elements:

- Priority awareness, incentives, disincentives and enforcement measures for systemic interventions to increase compliance
- Risk Management, particularly on criteria for selecting enterprises that will be subject to inspection.
- Partnerships and coordination with labour inspectors, other LSSO departments and Government agencies
- Recruitment of inspectors
- Training plan
- Supporting systems and tools (including LIDAS system)

v. Provide recommendations to strengthen inspections functions as well as compliance with LSSO registration and payment requirements. Recommendations on durable and efficient options will be formulated within a broader systemic approach, balancing roles of inspection with other mechanisms (such as tax payments and business registration) to incentivize compliance, building checks into the LSSO system itself and leveraging the regulatory environment.

The consultant will work in close collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, and particularly with the LSSO. The consultant expected to adopt a methodology of work that encourages active participation, consulting with relevant stakeholders beyond the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare.

The consultant will take into consideration the ILO Labour inspection convention, 1947 (No. 81) and accompanying Recommendations 81, the ILO guidelines on general principles of labour inspection (2021), Lao PDR’s legal framework, existing guidelines and good practices from other countries.

Expected products and timeline

- Product 1. Short inception report (5 pages maximum), detailing scope of work and methodology, and documents needed for translation: August 2022
- Product 2. Social Security Inspection guidelines and Internal Inspection guidelines, as specified in Tasks ii and iii: October 2022
- Product 3. Roadmap for compliance with social security compliance, as specified in Task iv: November 2022
- Product 4. Report (10-15 pages) providing overview of the current functioning of social security inspections (as specified in Task i) and recommendations (as specified in Task v): December 2022

The timeline is only indicative and will be adjusted based on the evolution of Covid-19, and candidates' availability.

The international consultant will be supported by the National Project Coordinator of the Social Health Protection project, who will assist with the screening and compilation of relevant documents and publications, translation and interpretation work and the coordination of meetings with stakeholders (in-person or virtual, depending on how the Covid-19 situation develops).

Required profile

The service provider is required to have the following qualifications:
- University level academic qualifications in social science, social policy, social protection, public administration, international development or other relevant fields
- At least 8 years of demonstrated experiences of relevant work on social security administration, preferably as a part of a social security institution
- Practical experience and knowledge of working on Labour and/or social security inspection
- Ability to adapt to different environment and to propose alternative options and recommendations to suit a specific country context.
- Experience in South East Asia is an added advantage
- Good report writing and communication skills
- Good knowledge of the Lao political, economic and social context is an asset
- Ability to produce high quality deliverables in a timely manner, in English language
- Work in close consultation with the project team and the ILO country office

Attestation for having adequate medical and accident insurance

The service provider must be aware that the ILO accepts no liability in the event of death, injury, or illness of the staff under the Service provider.

The Service provider must attest that he/she is adequately covered by insurance for these risks.
In no circumstances shall the Service provider be covered by any ILO insurance. It is the Service provider’s own responsibility to take out, at their own expense, any personal insurance policies that are considered necessary, including a civil liability insurance policy.

Duration, fee, payment schedules and conditions

Duration, Fee and payment schedules:

The work is expected to be conducted in 25 working days, tentatively starting from 01 August 2022 to 31 December 2022.

Note:
- All payments made to the contractor, bank charges are shared between the parties (the ILO bears charges levied by its bank and the beneficiary bears the charges levied by its own bank).
- Consultant is required to submit to the ILO the boarding passes + hotel invoices after completion of the mission to serve for archiving and auditing purposes.
- Payments must be done on the completion of work to the satisfaction of the ILO based on the payment schedule above.
- All excess paid will deducted from final payment. All unspent balance needs to be returned to the ILO within 30 days
- If Covid-19 travel restrictions are not lifted, the mission in country may be cancelled. In such case, the amount of DSA paid in the first payment will be deducted from the final payment.

Conditions:

Air tickets will be arranged and issued by ILO in accordance with ILO rules and regulations: economy round trip – least cost and most direct flights.

The External Collaborator is responsible for obtaining the necessary visa.

The External Collaborator is advised to obtain insurance coverage at his own expense, for sickness, accident, or temporary disability, death and third party risk covering the entire duration of the event, and the journey to and from the host country. The ILO cannot accept responsibility or liability for such contingencies.

Daily subsistence allowance (DSA) will be paid to the traveller in accordance with the ILO rules and regulations to cover lodging, meals, transport costs, and other personal contingencies during the period of the mission.

AD HOC DSA will be paid to the traveller for the day on which the traveller arrives at the destination, at the rate applicable to the place where the traveller spends the night. DSA is not paid for the day on which travel is concluded or for overnight travel on a plane. This includes flights which arrive and depart on the same day the travel concludes.

In case an accommodation is shared/provided by the organizer of the meeting, 50% of the DSA will be deducted for each night.

In case a meal is provided by the organizer of the meeting, 15% of the DSA will be deducted for each meal.

It is mandatory for any external collaborator travelling on behalf of the ILO office to adhere the security clearance procedures, including completion of the UNDSS online course “BSAFE” and submission of travel details in the Travel Request Information Processing system (TRIP) to request and obtain a Security Clearance prior to the travel. Certificates for completion of “BSAFE” is required in processing the contract. https://training.dss.un.org/course/category/6

Application requirement

Interested candidates are requested to apply by sending an up-to-date CV as well as daily consultancy fees. Interested candidates are requested to send their applications no later than 10 July 2022 to the National Project Coordinator for Lao PDR by email at thongleck@ilo.org copy to goursat@ilo.org

Recruitment process

Please note that all candidates must complete an on-line application form. To apply, please visit the ILO Jobs website (https://jobs.ilo.org). The system provides instructions for online application procedures.

Fraud warning

The ILO does not charge any fee at any stage of the recruitment process whether at the application, interview, processing or training stage. Messages originating from a non ILO e-mail account - @ilo.org - should be disregarded. In addition, the ILO does not require or need to know any information relating to the bank account details of applicants.

This vacancy is archived.

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