Social security will be adapted to the changing labour market and flexible working

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Lerato Khumalo

According to the compilation made by AA correspondent from the OVP for the years 2025-2027, the long-term financial sustainability of the social security system will be strengthened, and the premium base and collection, as well as adaptation to new working methods, will be increased.

Regulations that encourage people to remain employed in the social security system and prioritize equity and actuarial balance will be implemented to strengthen the financial sustainability of the system.

Applications will be developed for different occupational and income groups in order to expand the actual and legal scope of the social security system and to ensure that groups not included in the scope enter the system.

According to the projected schedule, social security legislation will be made more compatible with changing labor market conditions and new generation flexible working styles in the second quarter of 2025.

SECURE FLEXIBILITY WILL BE PROVIDED IN LABOR MARKETS

In line with the developments in new generation working models such as remote, part-time and temporary working and platform working, legislative regulations will be implemented in the first quarter of 2025, taking into account the needs of the business world and the work-private life balance.

Secure flexibility will be ensured in the labor markets through amendments to the Labor Law in dialogue with the social partners and secondary legislation studies to be carried out in this direction.

The reflections of green and digital transformation on labor markets will be analyzed and programs aimed at adaptation and just transition will be implemented.

In the second quarter of 2025, a complementary retirement system will be established, in which the Automatic Enrollment System (OKS) will be transformed into a second-stage retirement system with the contribution of employers.

Standard retirement investment funds in the Individual Retirement System (BES) will be redesigned to produce more added value for participants’ savings.

EMPLOYMENT INCENTIVES WILL BE TERMINATED IF THEY ARE IN EFFECTIVE

The follow-up and collection processes of premium debts will be activated. Ineffective employment incentives will be terminated, and the incentives for women, youth and the disabled will be increased, ensuring that the incentive system has a simple and effective structure.

In order to ensure financial sustainability without restricting access to healthcare services, reimbursement criteria will be examined through data analysis, value-based reimbursement methods will be expanded, and expenditures will be activated in rapidly increasing groups such as medicines supplied from abroad.

The effectiveness of primary health care services within the health system will be increased and the integration between service levels will be strengthened.

In healthcare products and services, demand control and integration between service levels will be strengthened and appropriate use of service levels will be ensured.

The scope of the Health Market Application will be expanded and the supply chain of medicines and medical supplies will be further strengthened. Rational use of medicines will be encouraged and medicine and treatment expenses will be rationalized.

Audit models that take into account the behavior of service providers in the reimbursement of health services will be developed.

The information systems of the Social Security Institution will be strengthened, data sharing between institutions will be increased, and indicators regarding long-term financial sustainability will be regularly monitored.