NIS Director Urges Jamaican Workers to Verify Employer Contribution Payments Regularly

The National Insurance Scheme (NIS) is calling on contributors to make a habit of reviewing their contribution records so they can confirm that employers are forwarding payments as required.

In an interview with JIS News, Portia Magnus, Director of the NIS at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, said not every employer follows the National Insurance Act. She stressed that workers should not postpone these checks until they are nearing retirement age. Regular contact with the NIS can confirm whether a current employer has been remitting contributions on an employee's behalf.

Where a previous employer failed to pay over contributions, Magnus said that matter should be raised with the Scheme without delay. "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.

Self-employed contributors are also tracked. "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 acknowledged that while many employers do pay, the NIS still pursues legal action against those who fall short. She noted that "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," Ms. Magnus stated.

She warned that benefit needs can arise long before retirement. "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 raised concerns about intimidation faced by Ministry inspectors, particularly at smaller workplaces. "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.

She cautioned employees against shielding non-compliant employers. "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 created to protect contributors and their dependants by providing social insurance benefits to those who qualify. That mandate continues to be carried out, with roughly 140,000 pensions and other benefits now being paid. These cover retirement, invalidity, widows' and widowers' pensions, survivor pensions for children, health insurance, maternity allowance, a full range of employment injury benefits, and funeral grants.