Totalisation agreement
is a bilateral social-security treaty preventing double contributions and protecting benefit rights for cross-border workers: assignees can stay in the home scheme for defined periods with a certificate of coverage, and contribution periods in both countries aggregate for pension entitlement.
What totalisation agreements do
- Assignment exemptions: typically up to five years in the home system with a certificate of coverage — the bilateral cousin of the EU’s A1.
- Aggregation: years contributed in each country count together toward qualifying periods, with each state paying its pro-rata pension.
- Coverage rules: which system applies for multi-country and self-employed cases.
- Gaps: no agreement (common between European and several Asian or Gulf states) can mean double contributions or lost coverage — check per corridor before assigning.
FAQ
Which countries have totalisation agreements?
Networks vary: Switzerland, the UK and most EU states hold agreements with major partners (US, Canada, Japan, Korea, Australia and others), but coverage of Gulf and many Asian corridors is thin. The specific pair matters — verify the corridor, its scope (pensions only vs broader) and time limits before every assignment.
What is a certificate of coverage?
The agreement’s equivalent of the A1: home-institution confirmation that the assignee remains home-covered, exempting host contributions for the permitted period. Without it, host authorities can demand local contributions regardless of what the treaty would have allowed.