MORE than 200 workers in Cebu and Bohol are at risk of not being able to receive benefits or apply for loans at the Social Security System (SSS) after 23 employers failed to remit employee contributions amounting to P9.6 million in the first quarter of 2023.
Notice orders were issued by the SSS to these erring establishments under its Run After Contribution Evaders (Race) campaign.
If employers remit contributions to the SSS, their employees can avail themselves of maternity, sickness, disability, retirement, funeral and death benefits. The agency also allows qualified members to take up salary, housing, business and educational loans.
The state pension fund for private sector workers tagged six erring employers in Cebu City, with a contribution delinquency of P1,083,000, affecting 43 employees, while it flagged six employers in Lapu-Lapu City for failing to remit P397,613.09 in contributions of their 26 workers. Eight employers in Mandaue City were also visited by the pension fund’s Race team for their non-remittance of P3.8 million in contributions, affecting 112 employees.
Seven employers in Bohol also did not remit P4.4 million in contributions, affecting 30 workers.
In 2022, SSS Visayas Central 1 conducted a total of 10 Race campaigns involving 77 employers, with a total collection of P7.30 million as of December 2022, benefiting over 1,200 employees.
In the first quarter of last year though, SSS Visayas Central 1 mounted only one Race campaign in Tagbilaran City, Bohol, involving seven employers with P723,116.33 in collections affecting 379 employees as the Race campaign started in the latter part of March.
Alberto Montalbo, SSS vice president for Visayas Central 1 Division, said the agency is determined to run after these erring employers to settle their SSS contribution delinquencies because failing to do so would deprive their workers of the social security they deserve.
Montalbo said SSS contributions of employed members are important because they would provide social security protection should a contingency occur. He cited, as an example, those workers with high-risk jobs at the construction sites and those providing public safety services.
“Every day, they risk their lives... This is why we are determined to run against these erring employers,” Montalbo said.
He clarified that the campaign is not meant to put these employers to shame but to help them revive their good standing and also for the SSS to raise awareness and offer relief to challenged companies through the condonation program.
After issuing the show cause order, SSS gives delinquent employers 15 days to coordinate with their respective servicing SSS branch offices and settle their contribution delinquencies.
SSS is offering a contribution penalty condonation program under which the visited employers could avail of the flexible payment terms to settle their delinquency--either a one-time payment or 12 to 48 monthly installments, depending on the delinquency amount.
Republic Act 11199 or the Social Security (SS) Act of 2018 requires employers to report for coverage to the SSS all their employees and/or kasambahay within 30 days from their actual employment date and remit the corresponding monthly contributions of their workers.
On the other hand, household employers shall shoulder the social security contributions of kasambahay who are earning P5,000 or less.
Under the Social Security Act, employers who fail to register their employees or have not deducted and remitted their contributions will be penalized with a fine of P5,000 to P20,000 and face imprisonment ranging from six years and one day to 12 years.
Monitor
Montalbo added that employees could also help the SSS by regularly monitoring their contributions to make sure their employers never miss remitting their monthly obligation.
“SSS is available online. They can regularly check their contributions there,” he said.
In 2022, SSS Visayas Central 1 Division recorded P16.1 billion in collections, up from P14 billion in 2021, which are way below the P19 billion to P20 billion in average collections in the years prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This year, Montalbo said, they want to see collections return to the pre-pandemic level.
“SSS will be conducting more Race campaigns in the coming months... Thus, we appeal to our employers to always observe their legal obligations under the SSS Law. Let us work hand in hand so that no one will become a burden to society,” Montalbo said.
SSS has about 31.96 million members across the country.