While MSF’s responsibility ends with employment, MSF considers it important to maintain its employees’ connection to their home society and prepare their reintegration in order to help retain staff longer in the field.
To this effect, MSF aims to provide employees with solid home benefits. And as national social systems are often the best way to provide long term benefits and facilitate reintegration, MSF makes use of (and contributes to) existing social systems when possible, in the provision of these home benefits.
In addition, for a set of core benefits, additional private insurance is provided in order to reach the standard level of benefits MSF intends to provide.
Core benefits through international insurances (regardless of the contracting section)
International staff members are covered by common international insurances (for the first five points with Allianz and administered by MSH) covering the following areas:
Healthcare Coverage
Short and Long Term Disability
Life Insurance (All Causes)
Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D)
Note: Two contracting sections use different providers for all or part of the coverage:
- MSF USA for medical coverage (through Cigna)
- MSF Switzerland: the provider depends on the contract start date and whether the expat is a Swiss resident or not. Check with the HR Admin unit at OCG for details.
Lost and Stolen Luggage/Items Insurance
Medical Evacuation/Repatriation: MSF contracts the services of a specialized provider used by all OCs under one global arrangement.
Medical malpractice
Other core benefits
- Annual Leave: according to your contract type (see below)
- Public Holidays: Public holidays locally mandated in the assignment country apply to Mobile staff, as well as country-based staff
- Circumstantial Leave: as per global policy (exceptions due to legal requirements in Contracting section may apply):
- Bereavement Leave: 3 paid working days in case of death of family members inclusive list included in the global policy)
- Leave for Wedding of Employee: 3 paid working days
- Leave for Wedding of Child of Employee: 1paid working day
- Personal Days: maximum 3 working days per year for exceptional and/or unexpected personal situations that have to take place during working hours.
- Due to the specific nature of their engagement with the organization (assignments outside the country of domicile), for Mobile staff:
- Personal days can also be used for travel in case of bereavement leave or serious illness of a relative.
- For these two situations, MSF also covers the cost of the ticket (i.e. generally air travel back to the domicile country).
- Parent Leave:
- Birthing Leave: a minimum of 2 weeks paid pre-delivery leave and 18 weeks for post-delivery leave (or more, depending on the contracting section legal requirements)
- Co-parent leave: 2 paid weeks for employees whose partner gives birth
- Adoption Leave: 8 paid weeks for employees adopting a child, or 14 weeks for single parent family. When both parents work with MSF, some of this leave can be shared (transferred) between the two parents to take up to 14 weeks..
Luggage Allowance: MSF provides the normal luggage of 20kg allowed by most airlines. Any additional luggage allowance included by the airlines may be used by MSF for accompanied project shipments from the operational center onwards. This luggage allowance should therefore be adhered to strictly when preparing to leave on an assignment.
Additional benefits included in specific packages for longer commitments
Home Child Allowance: as part of specific packages, MSF provides financial support for dependent children remaining in their country of domicile.
Extra Paid Leave: Specific packages (for longer commitments) also include extra paid leave. This allows staff to sustain field work for a prolonged period.
To know more details about these benefits and when they are granted, please refer to the specific packages page.
Social benefits organised by the contracting section
In addition to this set of core benefits, the contracting sections organise the social coverage customarily provided to employees, through contributions to social systems (and if and where applicable to private schemes). As social systems vary greatly, it is not possible to set an international standard. However, as a responsible employer and a medical organisation, MSF distinguishes particularly:
Retirement: Depending on the contracting section, it is provided in the form of a contribution to national retirement systems and/or to private pension schemes.
Please contact the HR administrator at your contracting section for specific details on your retirement benefits or maternity leave policy.