SSS urges members to be vigilant vs. delinquent employers

The Social Security System (SSS) on Thursday reminded its members to be cautious against employers who still have pending payments on their employees’ compensation contributions. 

Interviewed on Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon, SSS Vice President for NCR North Division Fernan Nicolas said that workers could personally check through My.SSS portal if their employers have already remitted their contributions. 

“Kapag hindi nare-remit, ang number one na dapat gawin ay magsadya na sa mga tanggapan namin. Marami kaming tanggapan—166 nationwide po ‘yan nakakalat. Pwede kayong pumunta sa pinakamalapit na tanggapan ng SSS at mag-file ng complaint,” he said. 

(When your contributions are not remitted, you should go straight to our offices. We have 166 nationwide. You can go to the nearest SSS office and file a complaint.) 

“Kapag nag-file ng complaint, magi-imbestiga kami. Kapag nakita natin na dapat nating singilin ‘yung employer, sisingilin namin ‘yan. May mga prosesong dadaanan. Kung hindi nga nagko-comply, ‘yan ay pupunta sa pagpa-file ng kaso sa korte,” he added. 

(We will investigate once a complaint is filed. When we see that there are pending payments, we will ask the employer to pay. There will be processes to follow. If they don’t comply, that may result in the filing of a case in court.) 

Last Tuesday, SSS said it has issued violation notices to over 1,200 delinquent employers across the country, with over P335-million worth of contributions needed to be settled.

The state-run pension fund said the delinquencies affect the social security coverage of some 19,000 employees which would need to be settled as they would not be entitled to claim benefits or apply for loan programs.

Nicolas primarily attributed the delinquencies to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic to some employers. 

“Maraming delinquencies kaming nakita simula noong simula ng 2020 up to present. Parang nahihirapan pa silang maka-recover. Meron din kaming nakikita parang sadya lang talaga na hindi nagre-remit sa SSS,” he explained. 

(We have seen many delinquencies since the beginning of 2020 up to present. It seems they are still struggling to recover. We also see people who are not remitting to SSS on purpose

With this, he encouraged delinquent employers to avail of the SSS’ relief and restructuring programs such as the Enhanced Installment Payment Program and Contribution Condonation Penalty Program to ease their financial burden. 

Under the Contribution Penalty Condonation Program, SSS earlier said that “employers will be able to pay overdue SSS contributions free of penalties in full or installment for a period of four to 24 months depending on the total amount of delinquency.”

The Enhanced Installment Payment Program, meanwhile, allows qualified employers to pay their past due SSS employees contributions and compensation in installments for a period of nine months to 60 months depending on the total amount of delinquency.—AOL, GMA Integrated News