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SSNIT to go after indebted employers
Tema, June 28, Ghanadot/GNA- The Social
Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), would from
the end of July this year, issue out bills, under its new
Employer Member Account Reconciliation (EMAR) system, to
prompt indebted employers to pay the pension scheme
contributions of their employees.
Under the EMAR system, the grand summary of total employer
indebtedness based on inspections, up-to-date and last known
contribution reports received from employers would be
calculated and a monthly bill issued to prevent mounting of
debts.
This was announced by Mr Allandu Azu, Tema Harbour Branch
Manager of SSNIT at an employers’ seminar at Tema to educate
employers contributing towards the scheme with its six
branches in the region on their roles under the new system.
Mr Azu explained that the EMAR system seeks to address the
limitations of the indebtedness schedule, which is the list
of indebted employers compiled through the reconciliation of
contributions and payment information in the SSNIT database
with employer records.
He said the system is that of an in-house application,
developed by the SSNIT Information Technology Department,
which would estimate the total employer indebtedness at the
end of every month whether inspections have been conducted
or not.
The system uses data from contribution reports and payments
made by employers to estimate their indebtedness as well as
updating arrears of individual indebted employers.
Mr Azu warned that employers who fail to pay their debts or
negotiate with SSNIT to settle their arrears by instalments,
three months after the issuance of the bill, would be
prosecuted.
Mrs Maame Ekua Amoah, Tema Area Manager in a presentation on
employer indebtedness and its effects on SSNIT, said 8,023
out of the over 23,000 employers in the country owed about
GH¢43,031,628.00 of SSNIT contributions, as at the end of
December 2006 and it increased to GH¢54,442,670.00 by the
end 2007.
She said 189 employers owe the Tema Harbour Branch of SSNIT
GH¢763,958.71 as at December 2007, adding that three
companies including the Ghana Printing Company, which is on
divestiture, owes over GH¢400,000 out of the total.
The Tema Area Manager attributed employers’ indebtedness to
irregular payments, leading to arrears of contributions,
under payments and under declaring of labour force.
Other causes were the elusiveness of some employers, which
made it difficult for SSNIT to promptly notify them of their
indebtedness while others were said to be recalcitrant and
simply refuse to pay their contributions, even when they
were notified.
Mrs Amoah said the procurement of vital logistics,
registration of employers and employees under the scheme,
management of bio and financial data of members as well as
the prompt and accurate processing of social security
benefits are all affected by employer indebtedness.
She pleaded with employers to see the payment of SSNIT
contributions as a legal requirement and should treat it as
priority.
Mr George Akyeampong, Deputy Tema Harbour Branch Manager
said employers’ role under the EMAR system is to frequently
update and notify SSNIT of any change in their records as
they occur.
Mr Akyeampong urged Employers to make available salary books
or pay vouchers, showing the salaries/wages of their
employees on a monthly basis to enable SSNIT to reconcile
information in its database with employers’ salary books.
During an open forum employers advised SSNIT to assist in
correcting anomalies on their contribution reports, instead
of rejecting their payment.
Answering a question on what the SSNIT was doing to improve
upon the accommodation of workers, Mrs Amoah replied that 90
percent of the SSNIT employee’s housing projects have been
sold out, but added that, most employees rent the houses out
at exorbitant prices to people.
GNA
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