NSSF to track defaulters through whistleblower platform
The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) is gearing up efforts to improve whistleblower reporting. The Fund has upgraded its whistleblower portal to enable people out there to report non-compliant employers in a seamless manner.
The Fund said the aim of this upgrade is to improve the compliance rate to 60% by the end of this year.
An automatic tracking function for reported incidents and a complete anonymity option to shield whistleblowers from potential victimisation are among the new features of the enhanced platform.
Furthermore, in accordance with the new NSSF Act, which mandates that all companies, regardless of size, remit social security contributions for their employees, government labour inspectors can now denounce government contractors who obstinately refuse to contribute to the fund using the new portal.
Patrick Ayota, NSSF managing director, noted that only 20,762 out of 36,426 registered employers were actively remitting contributions to the Fund, giving a compliance rate of 57%.
“This indicates that we have a compliance rate of only 57%. Compliance means that an employer is remitting the contribution on time and in full. The data above means that over 15,000 employers are not complying and are cheating their employees of their retirement savings. The sad news is that, on average, only 107 cases are being reported monthly,” he said.
Ayota said that if the Fund receives reports of non-compliance from the whistleblower, it will open an investigation. If the allegation is confirmed to be true, the reported employer is then given the chance to cooperate and resolve the issue amicably. If the employer adamantly refuses to cooperate, however, more severe measures, such as prosecution and the imposition of legal punitive penalties, become necessary.
“Over the last two years, we have recovered $8,969,549,733 through litigation. We currently have over 390 cases and expect to recover even more with this new whistleblower platform,” he said.
Typical examples of irregularities in NSSF compliance are when employers understate their staff’s gross salaries in order to pay less in monthly contributions; when employers fail to make the required 10% contribution on top of their employees’ 5% contribution; and when employers fail to make monthly social security remittances despite deductions from their employees’ salaries
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