NIS contributors urged to check records regularly

Contributors to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) are being encouraged to consistently check on their contribution records to ensure that employers are remitting the contributions.

Director of the NIS, Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Portia Magnus, explained that there are some employers who are not compliant with the National Insurance Act.

She encouraged persons not to wait until they are at the age of retirement to consistently check with the NIS on their contribution records, to ensure that their present employer has in fact been remitting the contributions on their behalf.

Magnus noted that in cases where prior employers have not paid over contributions to the NIS, this should be reported immediately to the scheme.

“Just give us the information on the employer because a part of the role of the National Insurance Scheme is to ensure that all employers are compliant with the requirements of the law. The requirements in the first instance are that the employer is registered, that all employees are registered, and that the correct contributions are being remitted monthly, and the annual returns submitted at the end of the year,” she said. 

“In terms of self-employed persons, we do monitor self-employed persons as well, basically assisting to ensure that the contributions that they're making are correct in terms of doing the calculations. So, in the parish offices of the ministry, we do have a cadre of staff that work along with the activities of the National Insurance Scheme. Among those staff members, we do have a team of inspectors as well… [and] a part of their responsibility includes the monitoring of employers to ensure that they are indeed complying with the provisions of our legislation,” she added.

Magnus noted that while employers are making the contributions, “we still do take employers to court though for not complying with the provisions of the legislation”.

“So yes, employers are paying, but we still do have some employers who are not necessarily compliant with the provisions of the legislation. We do need them to make the contributions and submit the annual returns. You see, the thing with the National Insurance Scheme, we're not here to put any employer out of business, and so if you are having a difficulty to remit all the contributions as required by the legislation, come in and talk to us. Contact us, we will work out a payment arrangement for you because at the end of the day, it is your workers who would have been working along with you to build your business who are going to be disenfranchised,” Magnus stated. 

“Because at the end of the day and not even all the way to retirement, because anything can happen, the person could develop an illness before they retire. That person could pass away also before retiring, so it is your workers that will feel it at the end of the day, depending on whatever situations may arise in their life and you don't want your workers to be at a stage where they need this kind of support and they're not able to get it,” she added.

Magnus also pointed out that some of the ministry’s inspectors may face intimidatory tactics, especially when they go to smaller businesses.

“They have had experiences where the worker, knowing fully well that their employer is present in the workplace, would say that the employer is not there to come back another time. Now, obstructing any inspector from carrying out their duties really is an offence under the law and there are penalties in terms of fines and terms of imprisonment,” she noted.

“Now what the employee does not understand is that when he or she does that, they are really disenfranchising themselves and putting themselves in a precarious position. Because when you enable your employer to evade the NIS and not remit your contributions or even go to the point of telling the employer not to, then when you need a benefit, there will be none for you,” she added. 

The NIS was established to safeguard contributors and their dependents through the provision of social insurance benefits to those who meet the required eligibility criteria. 

Today, this mandate is being actively fulfilled, with approximately 140,000 pensions and other benefits disbursed. 

These include retirement, invalidity, widows’ and widowers’ pensions, survivor pensions for children, health insurance, maternity allowance, a comprehensive range of employment injury benefits, and funeral grants.

- JIS News

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