India and Brazil sign agreement to protect rights of detached workers

India and Brazil sign agreement to protect rights of detached workers Jwala Gutta included in Governing Body of Sports Authority of India and Brazil signed a social security agreement on 16 March 2017 in Brazil's capital Brasilia, exempting detached workers of the two countries from making social security contribution in either country, as long as they were making such contributions in their own respective nations. The text was signed between the Indian delegation led by Joint Secretary of the External Affairs Ministry, K Nagaraj Naidu and Brazilian delegation led by Benedito A Brunca, Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Government of Brazil. The same was confirmed through a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs. Who are detached workers? They are the workers sent by their respective employers to work in the office of their company or an affiliated one located in a different country. Key Highlights
• The agreement establishes the rights and obligations of nationals belonging to both the countries and provides for their equal treatment and unrestricted payment of pensions even in the case of residence in the other contracting state.
• The requirements to be entitled for pension can be met by aggregating the periods of insurance completed in India and Brazil, whereby each country pays only the pension for the insurance periods covered by its laws.
• India has, so far, signed such Social Security Agreements (SSAs) with 18 countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and South Korea.
• The agreement will come into force in the first half of 2018. It will have a positive impact on the profitability and competitive position of companies of both India and Brazil that are operating in either’s territory.
• The agreement will also help promote more investment flow between the two countries.
• Once the text comes into force, it will be the first such agreement between the BRICS nations.