– less than 30% of registered employers contribute
– less than 25% of registrants contributing
– only 8,467 of 35,626 registered self-employed people are active
By Tamica Garnett
NOSON such as the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) has paid increasing numbers of pensions and benefits, and increased staff numbers during 2019, employers, employees and self-employed individuals have recorded low contribution rates.
This is according to the NIS 2019 Annual Report laid in Parliament last Wednesday.
According to the report, only 26.6 percent, or 8,320 of the 31,203 employers registered with the Scheme at the end of 2019 are going to pay their contributions while 22.7 percent or 168, 847 of the 741 , 419 employees / registrants active.
In addition, of the 35,626 self-employed people registered with the Scheme, only 8,467 were active.
The report did not elaborate on the reason (s) behind the large number of inactive cases.
Established in 1969, NIS is a social security organization providing social insurance on a compulsory basis, to everyone between the ages of sixteen and sixty who are engaged in insured employment. The coverage is also being extended voluntarily, to people who quit such employment before reaching sixty years, until it is reached.
The Scheme is governed by a Board appointed by the government. The current General Manager is Holly Greaves.
By the end of 2019, the Plan was paying a total of 38,175 old age pensions at an average of $ 31,642 per claimant, with 2,856 new old age pensions being awarded and 1,650 discontinued awards during the year. The new pensioners qualified with an average of 1,188 to their credit. This new pension number, marked an increase from the 2,627 awarded in 2018.
Aside from old age pensions, NIS paid a total of 1,170 old-age grants at an average of $ 84,773.
For 2019, the Scheme registered a further 640 new employers, and 9,502 new registrants. The new employers reported a 40 per cent increase on the previous year; 458 new employers registered with the scheme in 2018.
Meanwhile, the 9,502 new registrants represented a 22 percent decrease from the 12,713 new registrants recorded in 2018.
Speaking about the new employers who registered with the Scheme, the report said: “590 were small-scale suppliers, each employing no more than 10 people … only three employers or one ex-hundred employed over 100 people… the services sector accounted for 225 or about 35 per cent. ”
Of the 9,502 new registrants, 4,913 were female and 4,589 were male, while 9,454 were aged between 16 and 59. Eight registrants were under the age of 16, and 40 were aged 60 or over. The average age of registrants was 23 years.
A further 492 self-employed people were registered during the year, of which 297 were male and 195 were female, and this represented a 33 per cent decrease on the 739 self-employed registered in 2018.
PAYING MORE BENEFITS OUT
For sickness benefits, the scheme processed 53,251 claims for 2019, of which 34,320 were not granted. The 18,931 paid represented a 25 percent increase over the 15,140 benefits paid in 2018.
Classifying the rejected claims, the report identified that 8,534 claims were for periods of less than four days, 12,872 claimants were paid full salary, 1,670 claimants did not provide sufficient information for processing their claims and three were not they were – priority claimants.
Other reasons for permissible claims were that 948 claimants were over the age for receiving the benefit, 300 having reached the maximum benefit period, that is, 26 weeks payment; 4,172 did not meet contribution requirements; 519 made duplicate claims; There were 243 claims in error; 2,784 were banned from late submission; 42 were not allowed for late paid contributions and transfers 727. In addition, 897 were due to claimants incapacity to work, 285 were due to uninsured and 20 claimants submitted duplicate medical certificates.
Of the other claims rejected, a number of claims were being investigated, several were deemed ineligible, some presented invalid medical certificates and in some cases the contributions were investigated.
A further 18,439 claims for reimbursement of medical expense incurred through illness were also submitted, 19,954 paid out in 2018.
A total of 6,286 maternity claims were paid in 2019, an increase from the 4,388 paid in 2018. A total of 2,232 maternity grants, 885 injury benefits, 11 disability pensions, 10 disability grants, and two industrial death pensions were paid.
For invalidity benefits, another 64 people became eligible and were paid an average of $ 46,196 per month, while 79 were removed from the facility. Overall at the end of the year, a total of 553 people were in receipt of this benefit. Five invalidity grants were paid during 2019.
For a survivor’s pension, for the year 2019, 634 new recipients were awarded in this category, while 205 pensions were terminated, leaving a net total of 14,836 benefits in payments at the end of the year.
There were 46 awards for survivor grants in 2019, an average of $ 274,850. The number of new recipients represented a decrease of 16 percent from the 55 awards in 2018.
The organization also increased its staff supply during 2019, starting the year with 607 staff and ending with 636, of which 615 were permanent and 21 were temporary.
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