Regulation for the Administration and Complementation of the Labor History Database of the Public Pension System

DE No. 83/2002 DECREE No. 83/2002
REGULATION FOR THE ADMINISTRATION AND COMPLEMENTATION OF THE LABOR HISTORY DATABASE OF THE PUBLIC PENSION SYSTEM Approval: 04/10/2002 Validity: 15/10/2002

DECREE No. 83.-
THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF EL SALVADOR,
CONSIDERING:
I. That Article 18-A of the Law on the Pension Savings System establishes that Labor History shall be understood as the historical labor information of workers incorporated into the System, supported by contributions made to the Pension Savings System, as well as contributions made and periods of service recognized by said Law in the Public Pension System. The aforementioned article further establishes that the Labor History will serve as the basis for calculating the periods necessary to access the benefits contemplated in the aforementioned Law;
II. That for the reconstruction of the Labor History of contributions made to the Public Pension System, it is necessary to build a relational database that allows for the systematization of information;
III. That it is necessary to establish the responsibility for the administration of the database referred to in the preceding paragraph, as well as the technical parameters and mechanisms to complement the information that, for various reasons, cannot be located or digitized.
THEREFORE, in exercise of its constitutional powers, DECREES the following:

REGULATION FOR THE ADMINISTRATION AND COMPLEMENTATION OF THE LABOR HISTORY DATABASE OF THE PUBLIC PENSION SYSTEM

CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
OBJECTIVE
Art. 1.- The objective of this Regulation is to establish the mechanisms and technical parameters that the Salvadoran Institute of Social Security (ISSS) and the National Institute of Pensions for Public Employees (INPEP) must observe for the complementation and administration of the Labor History database, which contains periods of service and salaries contributed to said Institutes, as well as periods recognized by the Law on the Pension Savings System.

DESIGNATIONS
Art. 2.- In the context of this Regulation, the following designations will be used:
Accreditation: The action of assigning time of service and salary in the Labor History Database for a specific affiliate.
Affiliate: Affiliate of the SAP or the SPP.
Database: Labor History Database.
HL: Labor History.
ISSS: Salvadoran Institute of Social Security.
Inconsistency: Information appearing in the Labor History that, according to the affiliate, is incorrect.
INPEP: National Institute of Pensions for Public Employees.
Previsionary Institute: When referring to the ISSS or the INPEP.
IBC: Base Contribution Income.
NUP: Unique Previsionary Number.
Period: Calendar month.
Reference Period: Calendar month registered in a person's Labor History and preceded or followed by a period without time of service.
Benefit: Monetary benefit.
Superintendence: Superintendence of Pensions.
SPP: Public Pension System.
SAP: Pension Savings System.
Law: Law on the Pension Savings System.
Gap: Month or range of months in the Labor History that does not record time of service or does not record salary.

CONCEPT
Art. 3.- The Database shall be understood as the set of data stored in a computer system, classified into the following records:
a. Affiliation Record: Contains information on affiliates and former affiliates of the ISSS and INPEP, allowing for the identification of persons and their contributions; b. Employer Record: Contains information on employers who report or have reported contributions to the ISSS, the INPEP, or both;
c. Record of Periods of Service and Salaries: Contains information on periods and salaries contributed to the ISSS and INPEP, as well as periods of service recognized by the Law, prior to the existence of the INPEP.

UPDATING THE DATABASE
Art. 4.- The Database shall be unique and must be permanently updated by the Previsionary Institutes with information on periods and salaries contributed monthly on behalf of their affiliates. Likewise, the database must be cleaned and complemented through the mechanisms established in this Regulation.

CHAPTER II
ON THE REVIEW OF LABOR HISTORY INFORMATION
Art. 5.- The Previsionary Institutes must provide their affiliates or beneficiaries with an HL report when they request a benefit, in accordance with what is established in the Law or when they request to contribute voluntarily. Affiliates of the SAP who contributed to the SPP, or their beneficiaries, will receive the HL report from the Previsionary Institutes through the AFPs when they request a benefit. Affiliates may request the HL report even without intending to request benefits; the previsionary institutes may provide them; these must in all cases give priority to the issuance of HL reports related to benefit requests.

Art. 6.- The HL report issued for the granting of benefits in the SPP and the SAP will be generated from the information registered in the Database after applying the mechanisms detailed in Chapter III of this Regulation.

Art. 7.- Affiliates or their beneficiaries must review the information registered in the HL report and express their agreement or disagreement with said report, either to proceed with the determination of a benefit or to request a review thereof.

Art. 8.- Affiliates or beneficiaries who request a review of the HL must list all gaps and inconsistencies that, in their opinion, the information contains, and may attach documents that rectify them, in accordance with what is established in Articles 24 and 25 of this Regulation.

Art. 9.- In the case of SAP affiliates or the beneficiaries thereof who demand the review of the times and salaries they contributed to the ISSS or INPEP, the AFPs will be responsible for transferring to the Previsionary Institutes the requests for review of the HL report, as well as the documents that prove the unregistered periods of service or salaries, if they possess such documents. The requests referred to in the preceding paragraph must be sent by the AFPs within a period of three business days, counted from the date of their receipt. The Previsionary Institutes must inform the affiliate or beneficiaries, through the AFP, regarding the result of their HL review request.

Art. 10. To resolve requests for review of the HL, both for affiliates of the SPP and for affiliates of the SAP, the Previsionary Institutes must verify in their documentary and microfilm archives the periods and salaries claimed. After said verification has been carried out, the mechanisms established in Chapter III of this Regulation may be applied again, provided that it is appropriate according to the information found or the new information provided by the affiliates.

Art. 11.- The Previsionary Institutes must resolve requests for review of the HL report within a maximum period of sixty days, counted from the date of receipt thereof.

Art. 12.- The Previsionary Institutes must update the Database according to the results of the review process to form a definitive HL, which will serve as the basis for calculating the corresponding benefits.

CHAPTER III
MECHANISMS TO COMPLEMENT THE INFORMATION OF THE LABOR HISTORY DATABASE UPDATING AFFILIATION DATA Art. 13.- The information in the database identifying the affiliate must be updated in accordance with the identity documents presented by the affiliate or their beneficiary. In case the affiliate possesses or is identified with more than one name, two or more affiliation numbers, enrollment numbers, or NUP, these must be associated for the same affiliate, such that their affiliation record and labor history are consolidated and identified by a single NUP.

ACREDITATION BY PROBATORY DOCUMENTATION
Art. 14.- All periods and salaries that are proven through the documentation established in Articles 24 and 25 of this Regulation will be accredited.

ACREDITATION BY ASSOCIATION OF CONTRIBUTIONS
Art. 15.- Using the information provided by the affiliate, it must be identified and accredited those contributions that are proven to have been reported only by name, lacking an affiliation number, enrollment number, or NUP. The accreditation must be carried out through a search procedure by name, year, period, and employer, to then associate the contributions with the respective affiliation number, enrollment number, or NUP.

ACREDITATION BY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION SOURCES Art. 16.- For affiliates who contributed to the INPEP, the Database may be complemented with information from the Health Regime of the ISSS, or with information obtained from the various databases of labor records provided by Public Institutions.

ACREDITATION BY REFERENCE PERIODS
Art. 17.- The Database may be complemented by accrediting gaps between two reference periods, reported by the same employer. This mechanism may be used to rectify gaps in times prior to May 1998.

Art. 18.- Accreditation by reference periods shall be understood as follows: when a gap is detected between two reference periods, called A and B (with A preceding B and both reported by the same employer), the missing months are assigned, with the salary appearing in reference period A and with the days corresponding to the months being accredited. In no case may the periods accredited through this mechanism become reference periods for future accreditations.

CRITERIA FOR ACCREDITATION BY REFERENCE PERIODS Art. 19.- To rectify gaps in ISSS information, accreditation by reference periods will be applied, provided that the maximum number of months to be accredited between reference periods is three. Notwithstanding the foregoing, accreditation by reference periods may be applied regardless of the number of months constituting the gap for the following time ranges:
a) December 1973 to December 1974 b) December 1975 to October 1976 c) December 1983 to July 1984.

Art. 20.- Gaps in INPEP information may be completed through accreditation by reference periods, in accordance with criteria established for different time ranges, according to the following table:
Table 1. Criteria for accreditation by reference periods (INPEP)
Time Range | Periods to be accredited when the maximum number of months between reference periods is:
From 1965 to 1975 | 6
From 1976 to 1984 | 4
From 1985 to 1997 | 3
December 1997 to May 1998 | 4

SEARCH IN DOCUMENTARY ARCHIVE
Art. 21.- Information that cannot be completed from the mechanisms described in this chapter, but which the affiliate affirms they contributed, must be verified in the documentary and microfilm archives of the Previsionary Institutes.

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION FROM EMPLOYERS
Art. 22.- Having exhausted the previous mechanisms, the Previsionary Institutes, the AFPs, the affiliates, or their beneficiaries may request information from employers to prove the declaration and payment of previsionary contributions. Employers must provide such documentation within fifteen business days following the request. The Previsionary Institutes must inform the Superintendence regarding non-compliance with the preceding paragraph, in order to follow the corresponding legal actions.

CHAPTER IV
ON THE PROOF OF PERIODS OF SERVICE
Art. 23.- The admissible documentation to prove periods of service and salaries contributed by persons who worked in the public sector shall be:
a) Photocopy of the payroll, certified by the competent official of the Institution; b) Report on periods of service, issued and certified by the Court of Accounts of the Republic; c) Report on contributions, issued and certified by the Archive and Microfilm Department of the INPEP; d) Copy of the time of service card for public employees, certified by the Archive and Microfilm Department of the INPEP or by the Court of Accounts of the Republic; cards issued by other public sector institutions, certified by competent officials, will also be accepted. e) Certificate of work periods issued by the Public Institutions where the affiliate worked, issued by the competent official for such effect. In case the Public Institution referred to in the preceding paragraph no longer exists, the certificate must be issued by the Institution that retains the documentation related to the periods worked. Such certificate must specify periods worked, salaries, and unpaid leave. f) Certificate of Rights and Contributions issued by the ISSS, showing the days and salaries contributed to the Health Regime; g) Original copies of Official Gazettes or photocopies thereof, in which the agreements on appointments, increases, transfers, and, in general, the administrative act to be proven, appear published.

Art. 24.- The admissible documentation to prove days and salaries contributed by persons who worked in the private sector shall be any of the following:
a) Photocopy of the previsionary contribution payroll, document, or summary, showing that it has been cancelled.
When the payroll consists of more than two sheets, the sheet on which the affiliate was reported, plus the sheet of the payroll showing that it has been cancelled, may be admitted. b) Individual Account Analysis, issued by the Economic Benefits Division of the ISSS; c) Certificate of Rights and Contributions issued by the ISSS, showing the days and salaries contributed to the IVM Regime until April 1998; d) Certificate issued by a competent official of the ISSS or payment receipt, for temporary incapacity subsidies, corresponding to the period to be proven; e) ISSS Inspection Reports, in which the labor relationship, salaries, and contributed periods have been established.

CHAPTER V
USE OF THE DATABASE
Art. 25.- The information contained in the Database shall be considered as official source proving the registration of salaries and periods of service contributed or recognized in favor of a worker.

Art. 26.- The information contained in the Database will serve to calculate the Transfer Certificate and the benefits for old age, disability, and survivorship that affiliates of the SPP and SAP generate. Likewise, it will serve to calculate the period for which an SPP affiliate may contribute voluntarily to meet the time requirements for retirement.

Art. 27.- The information in the Database must be provided only to affiliates or their beneficiaries and may not be used for purposes other than previsionary ones.

CHAPTER VI
FINAL PROVISIONS
Art. 28.- The administration of the Database will be the responsibility of the Previsionary Institutes, which may establish cooperation agreements or service contracts, with each other or with third parties, to provide all necessary conditions for its optimal maintenance, cleaning, updating, and user attention.

Art. 29.- The Previsionary Institutes must have contingency mechanisms to generate HL reports, in cases where the Database cannot be consulted.

Art. 30.- The Previsionary Institutes must resolve administratively those cases in which the affiliate presents documentary evidence not contemplated in this Regulation, but which, due to its nature or origin, deserve analysis to be admitted as probatory documentation.

Art. 31.- Any aspect not contemplated in this Regulation will be resolved by the Superintendence, in accordance with applicable Legislation and other provisions.

Art. 32.- This Decree will enter into force eight days after its publication in the Official Gazette.
GIVEN IN THE PRESIDENTIAL HOUSE: San Salvador, on the fourth day of the month of October of the year two thousand two.

FRANCISCO GUILLERMO FLORES PEREZ,
President of the Republic.

JUAN JOSE DABOUH ABDALA,
Minister of Finance (ad-honorem)

JORGE ISIDORO NIETO MENENDEZ,
Minister of Labor and Social Security.
Published in Official Gazette No. 186
Volume No 357, dated October 7, 2002.
This compilation is an exact copy of what is established in the Official Gazette.