By LEDEDRA MARCHE

Senior FN Reporter

Employees have a right to request a record of their national insurance contribution history, officials at the National Insurance Board (NIB) insist, pointing out that the process is fairly easy.

Nationwide, delinquent national insurance contributions are in the millions and the NIB has mounted an aggressive collection campaign called "Know your contribution (KYC)."

NIB Public Relations Representative Sophia Carey revealed yesterday that all an employee needs to do is come in with their national insurance card and request a "KYC" statement.

The statement will generate the employee's contribution history – a five-minute exercise, she noted.

Carey is also stressing the importance of the employee to remember the dates of their employment. Once the information is generated, the department will give it to the employee to peruse.

"Any discrepancy on that where there may be an employer that is left off they will need to inform us of who has not paid or where they don't see any connection with an employer," she said.

The onus is on each employed person to go in to the National Insurance Board, she reiterated.

"We'll do our part, but they need to come in and inform us and that's what this whole know your contribution is all about: so that we can go after those persons who for some reason slipped through the crack," Carey said.

Carey revealed that in the event an employer does not appear on the report, the case is immediately forwarded to the Inspectorate Department.

According to Senior Assistant Manager of the Inspectorate and Compliance Department Janet Bowleg, once an employee's case is sent up to her department, her inspectors will carry out an investigation, find out where the employee works and ensure that employer pays the contribution.

Bowleg revealed that there are other recourses at her departments' disposal.

Once the employer is still operating, the NIB can invite that employer to pay the delinquent contributions voluntarily, otherwise the employer can be taken before the courts.

"This is why we're asking the public at this stage now that we're in the process of generating this contribution sheet to come forward because you have a lot of unscrupulous employers who don't pay," she said.

She added that the NIB inspectors have diplomatic ways of finding out whether an employee is accounted for and if the employer is paying for them.

"We handle our cases as strictly confidential," she said.

The National Insurance Board is stressing to the public not to wait until the employer has left the island or closed his business because at that point it will not be able assist.

Construction workers, those who are self employed and single store employees are usually the ones whose national insurance contributions are not paid.

The NIB officers say too often employees present themselves to the Customer Relations Department to submit their claims they become upset, irate and in tears because they have just learnt their employer has not paid their national insurance contribution.

Straw vendors, hair braiders and taxi drivers are the biggest offenders of the law, Bowleg disclosed.

When these individuals refuse to pay and report to the NIB for benefits, she adds, the department's hands are tied.

The reality is that some employers do deduct the employee's contribution as is required, but it is never paid to the NIB.

In the event the employer does not deduct an employee's contribution, he has no right to go back at any point and time do so and is then liable for the full employer and employee's portion.

Vanria Jennings, senior assistant manager of the Claims and Pensions Departments, explained that the delinquent employer is invited to bring his contributions current first as there is a possibility that they might be experiencing financial difficulty.

The company can enter into an installment agreement with the NIB for its portion and will be asked to keep current.

However, the contribution that has been deducted from the employee's paycheck is non-negotiable and must be paid up front, Jennings insisted.

An interest charge of six percent is tacked on to any late payment.

"We have inspectors and their job primarily is to ensure that all employers pay for all employees. But there are times when inspections cannot be carried out in a timely basis and we are only made aware that contributions were not paid when somebody comes in to claim."

It can cause a delay or denial in benefit payments.

In the past, employees have felt intimidated about requesting information re-garding their contribution, but Jennings points out that by law each employee must be proactive as they have a right to and they should before they need to retire or claim.

"We call you, let you know what you owe. We invite you to come in and pay and if you fail to do that then we will take you to court. You will receive a summons and the court takes over from there," she said.

If an employer fails to appear before the courts the court then takes over, the matter is considered a court issue and a bench warrant is issued.

In fact, Jennings said companies are in court daily.

The employee's contribution is 3.4 percent of his weekly salary up to $400. The employer pays 5.4 percent and an extra two percent to cover any industrial accident that might take place on the work site.

In essence, the employer pays a total of 8.8 percent for each employee.

The National Insurance Board is considering carrying out a mass communication via mail to various companies regarding their contribution history come January 2007.

KNOW YOUR WORTH – Officials at the National Insurance Board are impressing on employees to be proactive and find out if their national insurance contributions are up to date as it will benefit them in the future. From left are Sophia Carey, NIB public relations representative; Janet Bowleg, senior assistant manager of the Inspectorate and Compliance Department; and Vanria Jennings, senior assistant manager of the Claims and Pensions Departments.

(Photo by ANGELO ARMBRISTER)