Guatemalan Institute of Social Security

The Guatemalan Institute of Social Security (abbreviated as IGSS in Spanish) is the branch of the Guatemalan Ministry of Work and Social Provision that provides Hospital and Clinical services; pensions and income protection benefits, and employment counseling for salaried employees in Guatemala.

The Institute was created in 1946 under the administration of President Juan Jose Arevalo after the Guatemalan legislature passed Congressional Act 256 that ushered in a series of labor reforms, including the creation of a pension system and clinical services for employees.

256 and President Juan Jose Arevalo signed the Institute of Social security into law October 30, 1946.

[2] The work related incident pension and income protection for emergencies program was enacted in 1947 and rolled out at the national level between 1948 and 1949.

It operates under the auspices of the Ministry of Work and Social Provision but it's an autonomous body which enables to take independent decisions.